Big Ten Conference schools chased after Chicago-area football recruits, and others across Illinois, in a big way leading up to Wednesday‘s National Signing Day. The final number, 18 signees, led by the University of Illinois‘ six and Purdue‘s four, reflected a strong regional interest in the state‘s recruits. 
Matt Perez, Maine South
File photo by John Rowland
Certainly, this will be remembered as the year of the quarterback, even considering that Proviso West‘s Kyle Prater, one of the nation‘s most recruited wide receivers and by far Chicago‘s most recruited athlete, slipped away to Southern Cal.
So talented was the list of quarterbacks that Illinois signed two of them: Chandler Whitmer of Downers Grove South and Miles Osei of Prospect, who de-committed from Northern Illinois of the Mid-American Conference two weeks ago when Illinois coach Ron Zook surfaced with a late offer.
Ohio State grabbed Wheaton North quarterback Taylor Graham, whose father, Kent, had also starred at quarterback for the Buckeyes and then played in the National Football League. Purdue scooped up Springfield Rochester’s Sean Robinson, who passed for more than 2,300 yards and led his team into the Class 4A semifinals this past season.
Hinsdale Central’s John Whitelaw, a double-threat as a passer and runner who led the Red Devils to the Class 8A title game in 2008, wound up an Ivy Leaguer at Yale. Maine South, a two-time 8A champ, delivered its second consecutive Division I quarterback: Tyler Benz signed with Eastern Michigan; last year, Charlie Goro went to Vanderbilt. Lake Forest’s Tommy Rees was already enrolled at Notre Dame in January, so he’ll participate in new coach Brian Kelly‘s spring practices at South Bend.
Beyond the quarterback prospects, several other big-time players wound up in the Big Ten. Indiana signed Maine South running back Matt Perez, who rushed for 3,393 yards and 56 touchdowns in consecutive unbeaten seasons for the Hawks. He never lost a game, varsity or junior varsity.
Iowa landed tight end C.J. Fiedorowicz of Johnsburg, a de-commit from Illinois, and defensive lineman Louis Trinca-Pasat of Chicago Lane Tech.
"I think he felt very comfortable with the school, with the community," Iowa head coach Kirk Ferentz said of Fiedorowicz, who changed his commitment immediately after a visit to Iowa City. "And I think he also felt comfortable with his opportunities in our offense and maybe what he could do. We do play with tight ends."
Among Purdue‘s 20 signees was highly recruited Bruce Gaston, a 6-foot-3, 310-pound defensive tackle who announced his commitment to the Boilermakers just last week, choosing Purdue over Boston College, Notre Dame, Illinois and others.
Bruce Gaston, St. Rita
File photo by John Rowland
"He‘s a great football player, outstanding person and a good student," Purdue coach Danny Hope said. "He‘s one of the more dominant defensive tackles I‘ve been around in many, many years. He‘ll be one of the great defensive linemen to play at Purdue."
Overall, the only Big Ten schools that did not sign a Chicago-area recruit were Penn State (which attempted to recruit Gaston), Michigan and Michigan State.
In addition to Prater, among those that slipped through the Big Ten‘s grasp was Proviso East defensive back Corey Cooper, a close friend of Prater who de-committed from Illinois last weekend and then signed with Nebraska. Cooper, who had two interceptions and 50 tackles this past season, also visited Notre Dame and Arizona.
More recruiting: A couple of steals?
* Miami signed Jeffrey Brown, a 6-3, 275-pound defensive tackle from Evanston after Brown’s coach, Mike Burzawa, contacted the Hurricanes. Before that, Brown’s offers were from non-BCS schools: Toledo, Eastern Michigan and Illinois State. "Myself and our coaching staff felt Jeffrey was the real deal," Burzawa told the Chicago Sun-Times. Looks like the Hurricanes believe, too.
* Marist quarterback Mike Perish signed with Western Michigan. Rated as one of the top 100 quarterbacks in the nation, Perish, a Chicago native, passed for 3,385 yards and 37 touchdowns in an 11-3, Class 8A runner-up season for the RedHawks. He verbaled to Broncos coach Bill Cubit following an unofficial visit to Kalamazoo, Mich., last summer, before his sensational senior season ever happened.
* Chicago Morgan Park wide receiver and quarterback Da’Ron Brown, an All-Star hurdler, signed with Northern Illinois. Brown broke the school record for career touchdowns by a quarterback, with 41. He rushed for 3,700 yards his final two seasons and threw for 2,600 yards, but as a sophomore, before being moved to quarterback, he caught 45 passes for 789 yards and 12 TDs. He is being projected as a receiver at NIU. He had interest from the Big Ten’s Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Purdue and Northwestern, but no offers.
Around Chicagoland: Young girls seek 22nd
straight win
* The streak stands at 21 consecutive wins for Whitney Young High School’s girl’s basketball team. The Dolphins will go after No. 22 in the championships game of the Chicago Public League playoffs on Thursday night at DePaul againt Bogan, the continuation of an incredibly busy week for the Dolphins. They advanced to the title game with a scary 58-51 win over Morgan Park on Tuesday night. Early Friday morning, the team will be on a plane headed toward California to play in the Nike Extravaganza against nationally ranked (and host) Mater Dei (No. 3, MaxPreps Xcellent 25) of Santa Ana, Calif., on Friday night, then play Saturday at fourth-ranked Long Beach Poly. Young is ranked No. 7. Young has not lost since the Illinois Class 4A championship game last March against Bolingbrook. The Dolphins have won five of the last six Public League championships, including 55-38 over Bogan in the title game last year.
* Geneva’s girls’ basketball team won its 24th straight game Friday night, forcing Yorkville into 34 turnovers in a 55-13 Western Sun Conference win. The Vikings, already crowned as the top seed for a Class 4A Regional to be hosted by St. Charles North, will go after No. 25 on Friday night at DeKalb. Geneva has a 56-2 record over the last two seasons, its only losses coming to Whitney Young in the 4A state semifinals and to Wheeling in the consolation game last March.
* Jermaine Winfield scored a game-high 23 points and Paul Bunch had a game-high 10 rebounds for North Lawndale, which began defense of its Public League boys basketball championship with a 54-47, first-round win Wednesday night over Crane. Among the other first-round highlights: Farragut’s Darian Malone scored a double-double (20 points, 11 rebounds) in a 56-45 win over Harper, and Louisville recruit Wayne Blackshear of Morgan Park returned from a two-week absence due to an Achilles tendon and heel injury, scoring nine points in a 56-48 win over Harlan.
* Derril Kipp, girls basketball coach at Maine West High School, became the fourth girls coach in Illinois history to reach 700 wins when the Warriors topped Glenbrook North in a Central Suburban North game Jan. 29. The victory boosted Kipp‘s career record to 700-220. He joins Dorothy Gaters of Marshall, Dave Power of Oak Park Fenwick and Evan Massey of Galesburg in the 700-win club.
* Plainfield South seniors Brandyn Andelbradt rolled 2,693 and Calvin Hendrickson had a score of 2,665, leading the Cougars to their first-ever boys bowling state championship. The team dedicated their title-winning performance to Eric Brander, a teammate who died in a car accident on Dec. 11. The Cougars topped 2009 state champion Lake Park by 91 pins. "I just wanted to be in the top five, but after the fourth game we decided to dedicate this to Eric. It’s phenomenal," Plainfield South coach Jeff Bailey told the Sun-Times Group.
Paul Bowker, a sports journalist for 25 years who has worked at newspapers nationwide, covers the Chicago area for MaxPreps. He may be reached at bowkerpaul1@aol.com.
