The List so far 2022

[Total Red]

Jake Anderson 6'4 230 DL Durand HS (Du-Pec), Davis, IL
Christian Kirenga 6'0 175 DB Archbishop Alter HS, Kettering, OH
Max Ziebarth 6'5 220 TE Normal West HS, Hudson, IL
Rylan Crawford 6'3 190 S/WR Leo HS, IN
Landon Woodard 6'5 310 OT West HS, Waukesha, WI
David Connors Jr. 6'3 180 WR Robbinsdale C. HS, New Hope, MN
Greg Galloway 6'2 255 DL Oconomowoc HS, WI
Dallas Brown 6'1 190 S East St. Louis HS, Fairview Heights, IL
Myles Johnston 6'1 180 WR/DB Morris HS, IL wo
Lavarion Logan 5'9 190 RB Merrillville HS, IN
Christian Keyhea 6'1 175 WR Mount Zion HS, IL
Jordan Greuel 6'4 260 OL Greendale HS, WI
Mark (MJ) Cannon Jr. 6'3 200 DB Evanston HS, Skokie, IL
Jack Tippmann 6'4 230 TE Bishop Dwenger HS, New Haven, IN
Tye Niekamp 6'3 215 LB Normal Comm HS, IL wo
Cal Martine 5'11 225 FB Appleton North HS, WI wo
Camden Maas 6'3 195 DB Normal Comm HS, IL wo
Eddie Kasper 5'10 160 WR Wheaton Acad, IL wo
Joe Dochee 5'10 170 WR Marist HS, Frankfort, IL wo
Jimmy Makuh 6'2 180 QB Hersey HS, Arlington Hgts, IL wo
Chandler Binkley 5'10 175 RB Byron HS, IL wo

Transfers
Kobe Rios 6'6 322 OL Rock Island HS, IL Iowa Western CC
Dominic Collado 6'3 322 OL Crystal Lake So. HS, IL Miami of Ohio wo
Jake Siegel 6'3 267 DL Sycamore HS, IL Washington State wo
Zack Annexstad 6'3 220 QB Norseland MN IMG Acad Univ of Minnesota
Jerome Buckner II 5'8 165 WR Columbus Acad OH, Ohio U
Larry Tracy III 5'11 182 DB Decatur Cent HS, Indianapolis, IN Indiana Univ
Jake Pope 6'7 290 OT St. Thomas Aquinas HS, Ft. Lauderdale, FL Univ of Kentucky
Noble Appiah 6'4 300 OL DePaul Prep HS, Chicago Ellsworth CC, Iowa
DeAndre Lamont 5'11 190 DB Goose Creek HS, Baytown, TX Cent. Arkansas
Brock Annexstad 6'2 205 WR/PR Norseland, MN IMG Acad Univ of Minnesota
Jalen Monrrow 6'4 250 DL Jefferson HS, Lafayette, IN Univ of Cincinnati
Sy Dabney 6'0 200 S St. Mary's Prep, Pontiac, MI Bowling Green

 

[MadBird]

We lose one to the Badgers for 2022, TE from Monroe, WI.

BREAKING: JT Seagreaves commits to Wisconsin

The Monroe standout is staying home.

247sports.com

 

[fdbird83]

Max Ziebarth plans to follow father to Illinois State football roster

Normal West's Max Ziebarth will play his college football at Illinois State, the same school at which his father Andy was an offensive lineman.

www.pantagraph.com

 

[Adunk33]

Max Ziebarth plans to follow father to Illinois State football roster

Normal West's Max Ziebarth will play his college football at Illinois State, the same school at which his father Andy was an offensive lineman.

www.pantagraph.com

Good read. Max is a great kid. Interesting part of the article... Max mentioned the IPF. If coaches are using it in recruiting, you gotta think there is a plan in place in the very near future.

 

[Total Red]

Where we you in '92? That was recruiting class that included Max's father, Andy Ziebarth. Just for giggles I'm going to post the 1992 football commit list.

Jim Concklin 6'2 225 LB/G Central Catholic HS, Bloomington, IL
Todd Kurz 6'4 185 PK/P Central Catholic HS, Bloomington, IL
Eric Lindberg 6'2 210 LB Guilford HS, Rockford, IL
P. J. Becker 6'1 200 DB Sacred-Heart Griffin HS, Springfield, IL
Maceo Rainey 6'1 230 FB Thornridge HS, Dolton, IL
Maurice Reed 5'11 195 RB Louisville, KY
Larry Langlois 6'3 210 DL Ben Davis HS, Indianapolis, IN
Marc Wood 5'11 180 RB Loveland HS, CO
Cris Atkins 5'9 175 WR Sumner HS, St. Louis, MO
Floyd Coleman 6'4 185 QB Thornton HS, Harvey, IL
Jay Crumble 6'3 255 DL North HS, Downers Grove, IL
Keith Lee 6'4 285 OL Thornton HS, Harvey, IL
Don Martin 6'1 190 S Canton, OH
Jeff Oakley 6'3 215 DL Oswego HS, IL
Bill Randles 5'11 180 DB Oswego HS, IL
Kenny Williams 6'0 180 CB Murphysboro HS, IL
Andy Ziebarth 6'3 240 OL Normal Comm HS, IL
E. J. Zitkus 6'5 280 OL Thornton HS, Harvey, IL

Jim Heacock was the the Head Coach in '92. I was a big fan of Coach Heacock. I liked his no-nonsense style. There weren't a lot of PR motivated statements from him. When Coach Heacock said something he meant it. Unfortunately Coach Heacock was not a strong recruiter. When he took over from Coach Otolski he looked at the previous recruiting classes and he noticed that they looked good on paper, but he also noticed that many of players did not stick around - sound familiar? He set a goal of higher player retention. Again, unfortunately, he couldn't get it done. The '92 recruiting class was a prime example. None of the 3 players from Thornton HS (QB Coleman, OL Lee, OL Zitkus) stayed long enough to make a major contribution and they weren't the only ones. The major contributors from this recruiting class would include - Andy Ziebarth, Bill Randles, Don Martin, Larry Langlois, Maceo Rainey and Todd Kurz. Sorry if I missed anyone. 30 years fades the memories.

 

[MadBird]

Have looked now and then for reports about our commit from Robbinsdale Cooper HS in Minnesota, David Connors, signed as a WR. Yesterday, he led Cooper to a 41-0 win over Benilde-St. Margaret's, scoring three TD's - one on a 9 yd interception return, and TD receptions of 22 and 29 yards. Cooper finishes the regular season tied for conference lead with a 6-2 record. They'll be in the playoffs.

Newspaper article from earlier in the season about Cooper HS and highlights from our guy:

Robbinsdale Cooper football: Defense fuels second-half surge

Cooper football continued its dominant stretch of wins over rival Armstrong Sept. 17 in a 49-14 victory.

www.hometownsource.com

 

[MadBird]

Tyler Wilms, from Lemont (home of Austin Nagel, Cade Campos) Has an offer from EIU. This kid's not on our "commit" list, but we are on his interest list. Sounds like he could be a help. Hope you all can see this article:

Daily Southtown

Daily Southtown - 10/22/2021

digitaledition.dailysouthtown.chicagotribune.com

 

[Total Red]

"

Normal Comm has a good LB'er too. Wonder if we can get a home visit?

 

[MadBird]

Another story about a kid looking for a shot. Could be he's too "small" at this point - 235 lbs. - but he could bulk up some. Andrew Blackburn-Forst from Lockport.

Daily Southtown

Daily Southtown - 11/05/2021

digitaledition.dailysouthtown.chicagotribune.com

 

[MadBird]

Our commit, David Connors, caught a TD pass, and later blocked an extra point attempt by the opponents to provide the margin of victory as Robbinsdale Cooper beat Robbinsdale Armstrong 14-13 to get to the quarterfinals in the Minnesota HS playoffs.

 

[MadBird]

Help is on the way (hopefully!! fingers crossed). Our commit was named all metro by the Minneapolis paper:

RECEIVERS - DAVID CONNORS: COOPER Long and athletic, with remarkable leaping ability. High-points the ball well and routinely makes exceptional catches. Finished in the top 10 in the state in receiving yards (981) and touchdowns (13). Committed to Illinois State.

Star Tribune

Star Tribune - 11/23/2021

replica.startribune.com

Several other MVFC commits named to the team.

Edit - I should clarify in case you can't access the article, there are 13 offensive players on the first team (which Connors is on) including 3 receivers.

 

[Manchester Matt]

 

[Total Red]

I'll look forward to watching Dallas Saturday.

 

[Manchester Matt]

I'll look forward to watching Dallas Saturday.

Me too. I’ll take a few more kids from ESL if we can make it happen.

 

[Dmills]

Lavarion Logan, Merrillville , Running Back

8/22/2020: Lavarion Logan is a 5-11, 210-pound Running Back from Merrillville, IN. He has committed to Illinois State Redbirds.

247sports.com

Seems like a good pick up. De-committed from South Dakota State in early November.

 

[Total Red]

Lavarion Logan, Merrillville , Running Back

8/22/2020: Lavarion Logan is a 5-11, 210-pound Running Back from Merrillville, IN. He has committed to Illinois State Redbirds.

247sports.com

Seems like a good pick up. De-committed from South Dakota State in early November.

If his numbers on Hudl are accurate he's very strong.

 

[MadBird]

Early signing day Wednesday??

 

[MadBird]

Lavarion Logan, Merrillville , Running Back

8/22/2020: Lavarion Logan is a 5-11, 210-pound Running Back from Merrillville, IN. He has committed to Illinois State Redbirds.

247sports.com

Seems like a good pick up. De-committed from South Dakota State in early November.

Kind of a quick change of heart - this article suggests he just visited SDSU in late October. Glad to have him.

Merrillville's Lavarion Logan commits to South Dakota State

Lavarion Logan is locked in for the start of the Class 6A playoffs.

www.nwitimes.com

 

[MadBird]

Guess this applies to ISU/MVFC/FCS:

The Division I Council this week approved a one-year waiver of the annual signing limit and initial scholarship limits in football to allow schools to replace up to seven scholarship student-athletes who leave school after the first term.

So we can sign up to 7 "additional" guys for the year to replace people in the portal. Sounds like.

DI Council approves one-year waiver of football scholarship limits

DI Council approves one-year waiver to allow schools to replace up to seven scholarship student-athletes who leave school after the first term.

www.ncaa.com

 

[Dmills]

Another decommit from South Dakota State, this one in late November.