Northwestern 2019 football recruiting notebook: Spring practice visits and Under Armour camps

We’re in the thick of recruiting season as spring practice wraps up, and the 2019 recruiting class is starting to come together. Pat Fitzgerald and his staff have received five commitments since March 11 to bring their 2019 class to nine members, including two since Ryan Fieldhouse opened up last Saturday.

Recruits have been in town the past two weekends to take in spring practice and talk to coaches. Here’s a couple updates on who the Wildcats are looking at in 2019.

Northwestern offers RB Jirehl Brock and DE Adetomiwa Adebawore

The final practice of the spring also saw a host of recruiting visits. Most notably, four-star running back Jirehl Brock took in practice on Saturday and received an offer from Pat Fitzgerald and his staff.

Brock is definitely a recruit to get excited about. The Quincy, Ill. native is the second-ranked player in the state, and the tenth-best running back in the country according to 247.com. Michigan State, Illinois, and Iowa are among the other programs after Brock’s commitment and it’s not hard to see why.

WildcatReport.com reported that Brock will likely expand his top six to seven to include Northwestern. Perhaps the Wildcat coaching staff can sell Brock on another successful No. 21.

Adebawore’s recruitment has been picking up. In addition to Northwestern, the Kansas City native has received offers from Washington State and Navy in the past month, and took a visit to Missouri. At 6-foot-3 and 235 pounds, the two-star recruit is a bit small for a defensive lineman, but his highlight tape shows good speed and agility, as well as positional versatility.

The Wildcats haven’t picked up a 2019 defensive line commit, so expect Adebawore to be pursued hard. Also in town this weekend were Pennsylvania linebacker Gianni Rizzo and defensive end Jacob Secrest, a Wheaton, Ill. native, among others.

TE Thomas Gordon participates in the Houston Under Armour All-American camp

Spring means an onslaught of skills camps for the nation’s best high school football players, and the Houston iteration Under Armour All-American camp took place Sunday morning. Among the invitees was 2019 tight end commit Thomas Gordon, who is Northwestern’s highest-rated 2019 commit so far and the 20th-best tight end in the country.

Gordon didn’t receive an invitation to the Under Armour All-American Game, but he’s picked up some major interest since committing to Northwestern, earning offers from LSU and Louisville. 2019 is a long way away, but the Houston native’s athleticism combined with a growing 6-foot-4, 230-pound frame mean he could compete for snaps at superback with Trey Pugh, Cody Link, and 2018 commit Brian Kaiser.

Northwestern figures to be represented well at the Chicago Under Armour camp on May 6. Four 2018 commits (Devin O’Rourke, Wyatt Blake, Greg Newsome, and Jason Whittaker) participated in the event last year, with O’Rourke earning an invite to the All-American game in January.