Safety Austin Hiller commits to Northwestern

Northwestern's hot week on the recruiting trail for its 2017 class continued Thursday with the commitment of safety Austin Hiller. Hiller announced his commitment on Twitter:

Committed! #B1GCats pic.twitter.com/1Y5HCef8rz

— Austin Hiller (@austinhiller_) March 25, 2016

While Hiller is unranked by Rivals, he has a three-star grade according to Scout and a three-star grade with a 0.8333 composite rating on 247. The Lake Travis native has a strong build at a listed 6-foot-1, 200 pounds. From looking at his tape, he's able to use that size and athleticism to be both a rangy free safety or play downhill at times. He also has some special teams highlights, which head coach Pat Fitzgerald will undoubtedly like.

Hiller's commitment is nowhere near the recruiting coup that Northwestern got when it signed defensive ends Trevor Kent (over Oklahoma, Michigan, Nebraska) and Earnest Brown (over Texas, Texas A&M, Oklahoma, Michigan, Baylor and more) over the past two days. Hiller had been garnering more FBS offers in the past few months after receiving attention mostly from Ivy League schools. He has received offers from SMU and Tulsa, for example, before ultimately choosing Northwestern, the only school in a power conference to offer him.

Hiller is Northwestern's seventh commitment for the 2017 recruiting class and the fourth member of that class from the state of Texas.