Two weeks after Bryant McIntosh committed to Northwestern, the Wildcats received a verbal commitment, their fourth in 2014, from 3-star Fenwick (IL) guard Scott Lindsey. Scott Lidskin, the coach of Lindsey's Illinois Old School AAU team, broke the news on Twitter. Lindsey had offers from Vanderbilt, Iowa, Nevada, Utah State and a host of others before ending his recruitment Sunday.
The profile
School: Fenwick (IL)
Position: SG
AAU: Illinois Old School
Stars: N/A
Other offers: Indiana State, Iowa, Vanderbilt, Nevada others
Notes: Under the radar guard; Took unofficial visit to NU and liked momentum of the program
What it means
A 2014 class that made four-star forward Victor Law its first commitment on July 4 has since filled out nicely, adding forward Gavin Skelly, point guard Bryant McIntosh and, the latest, Lindsey. After receiving mostly lukewarm interest through most of his high school and AAU career, Lindsey started to hear from high major coaches, including Northwestern, in the spring and saw his stock soar after a strong summer on the grassroots.
Though Lindsey’s admiration for the Wildcats was of longstanding, he started to consider Northwestern more seriously after seeing the types of players – he mentioned Law when I spoke to him in August – new coach Chris Collins was adding to his first recruiting class. He also likes the idea of playing in an uptempo style, and believes Collins, without ever having served as a collegiate head coach, “has the program moving in the right direction.”
Lindsey had planned to visit Northwestern on October 5, but apparently decided another trip to Evanston wasn’t necessary. And so Collins, one week before conducting his first official practice as Northwestern's head coach (just hours before the football team’s huge home showdown against Ohio State), added another promising player to his foundational recruiting class.
When McIntosh committed two weeks ago, he said one of the biggest reasons behind his decision was the prospect of playing right away in Collins’ offense as a “lead guard,” someone who handles the ball, distributes and scores in equal measure. Lindsey, who stands 6-foot-5, 180-pounds, is a renowned shooter, and is likely to play off the ball as a two guard. The future of the Wildcats backcourt, with McIntosh and Lindsey, is taking shape right before our eyes. Collins’ first class has been a rousing success, and an addition like Lindsey – though not as highly touted as Law – underscores that point.
It is believed that Northwestern has one scholarship spot left (likely to be filled by a big man) in its 2014 class.