NIU focuses on wide receivers with latest recruiting class

Signing day is a look into a program, what coaches think their holes will be and efforts to close them, both short term and long term.

On Wednesday, the first day of the NCAA’s early-signing period, NIU signed 16 players: six wide receivers along with no running backs.

With quarterback Rocky Lombardi back for one more year, the Huskies were looking to add depth at receiver. The team had only three players with more than 13 catches, and one, running back Clint Ratkovich, is graduating.

“There were some areas that we wanted to make sure we focused on, wide receiver being one, that we wanted to make sure we added the right type of talent in that room where we can make it more competitive and try to become a much more explosive offense,” Huskies coach Thomas Hammock said. “We want to give Rocky a lot of options and weapons for next season, and so we really wanted to hone in on that position.

“Defensively, we were looking for guys that can take the ball away, make plays on the ball, be dynamic and disruptive. Those were really the two areas that we wanted to focus on in this particular class to continue to build our team the right way.”

While the three secondary additions come from out of state, three of the four non-transfer wideouts are local: Malik Armstrong from Minooka, Jalen Johnson from Metea Valley and Eli Reed from Downers Grove South.

The Huskies also brought in two transfer wide receivers, Kacper Rutkiewicz from Illinois State and Shemar Thornton from FIU. They also brought in Izayah Green-May, a linebacker from Wisconsin, and Temple quarterback Justin Lynch.

While continuing to add players who will make an impact – whether in 2022 or beyond – Hammock noted that the most important priority continues to be developing the student-athletes currently on the roster.

“How we look at recruiting is we have to constantly recruit our own team,” Hammock said. “That’s the most important thing I talk to my staff about. Don’t worry about somebody that’s not here, recruit the kids in our program, make sure they have a positive experience, make sure they’re having a great time on the field and off the field.

“If we can continue to do that, we can continue to be able to stack good seasons. The players in our program right now are the most important recruits that we have.”

Hammock also pointed out the importance of the walk-on program - although the school did not indicate which, if any, of the 12 high-school signees are walk-ons.

Hammock pointed to the success of Mason Blakemore, a running back, as to part of the reason there wasn’t a running back in the group. In addition to Blakemore, the Huskies have three running backs with ample playing time: Harrison Waylee, Antario Brown and Jay Ducker.

“A big part of the recruiting process for us is our walk-on program,” Hammock said. “What people don’t realize is sometimes you take a walk-on and award a scholarship and that means you take a scholarship from the next class. For example, Mason Blakemore is a young man that walked on and got a scholarship, as a result, we didn’t sign a back – yet.

“We have more information about the young men already in our program, than kids in high school or at other schools. So if we think someone has a chance, we will reward that young man with a scholarship because we have the most information about him.”