Late start hurts Illini’s recruiting process

Like 60-degree days in late January, college football signing day gives hope to area schools and their fans that better days are just around the corner.

At least that’s the hope at Northwestern and Illinois, both of whom are looking for bounce-back seasons.

Here’s a quick peek at how signing day went for some of the area schools.

IllinoisNew Illini coach Tim Beckman#146;s inaugural signing class brought in 19 recruits and one committed walk-on, long snapper Michael Martin of Champaign Centennial High School.Beckman was up against it considering he didn#146;t start the recruiting process until early December after being hired to replace Ron Zook.#147;I believe getting started late in the recruiting process put us behind,#148; Beckman admitted. #147;But this coaching staff is committed to recruiting the best student-athletes that fit our mold.#148;The class is made up of 14 skill players, four linemen and a kicker. The group features six players from Ohio, five from Illinois, five from Florida, and one each from Indiana, Michigan, North Carolina and Pennsylvania.Though early indications #8212; and ratings #8212; have it as a so-so class at best, Beckman told Illini nation that ratings can be, well, overrated.#147;Players and people win games, not ratings,#148; he said. #147;I feel each player that we have signed today has the ingredients to be successful both on and off the field here.#147;Numerous players that I have been involved with might not have been rated 4 or 5 stars but have ended up being Butkus and Heisman winners.#148;NorthwesternThe Wildcats#146; 21-player signing class is heavy on offensive linemen and defensive backs as Northwestern attempts to bounce back from a 6-7 season.The class, the largest in coach Pat Fitzgerald#146;s six seasons, includes four offensive lineman and four defensive backs as well as three linebackers. The Wildcats also are adding a high-profile transfer in former USC receiver Kyle Prater, who attended Proviso West High School.The recruiting service Scout.com rates Northwestern#146;s signing class 45th in the country and fifth in the Big Ten.The class includes offensive tackle Adam DePietro (6-5, 270) of Lancaster, Pa., and outside linebacker Ifeadi Odenigbo (6-3, 217) of Centerville, Ohio. Odenigbo in particular will be looked to for big contributions. His strength is the pass rush, an area where Northwestern struggled in 2011. The Wildcats were last in the Big Ten with 17 sacks.The class was light on the offensive skill positions, with no quarterbacks, two running backs (including Malin Jones of Naperville) and two wide receivers.Prater was highly recruited from Proviso West, but he played sparingly last season as a redshirt freshman at USC as he struggled with injuries. He announced last weekend that he#146;ll move to Northwestern.Northern IllinoisThe Huskies took the Jim Finks route and bulked up on offensive lineman, seven of them to be exact.Coach Dave Doeren and his staff announced the addition of 31 players for 2012, including 16 from Illinois.The Huskies also loaded up on the other side of the line with six defensive linemen signing on.#147;Part of the emphasis of this class was the offensive and defensive lines and we feel like we made a great impact on those two position groups,#148; Doeren said.The class also includes four defensive backs and four linebackers, three quarterbacks, two tight ends, two running backs and two receivers.#147;We definitely improved our football team in every area that we targeted,#148; Doeren said. #147;We felt it was extremely important to build a fence around as many in-state players as we could and we did that.#148;ŸAssociated Press contributed