theTelegraph.com
Scott Shafer isn‚Äôt done pilfering the Northern Illinois recruiting class. Syracuse’s new head coach¬†nabbed his first verbal with WR Corey Winfield¬†yesterday. The tall and speedy Winfield had been committed to Northern Illinois since July, but is now headed to Syracuse. Now it looks like NIU could lose another commit.
Mitch Kimble is a quarterback out of Jerseyville, IL who de-committed from NIU on Monday. Kimble had a solid verbal to the Huskies until a pair of offers from Syracuse and North Carolina State came his way. Kimble already visited the SU campus this past weekend, and will make a trip down south to check out the Wolfpack tomorrow. He had given the Huskies his verbal in August, but his head coach Dave Jacobs tells The Fizz Kimble’s heading to the ACC.
‚ÄúHe was committed to Northern Illinois until (Monday). He de-committed from Northern Illinois. Syracuse and Scott Shafer is going to see him… and the quarterbacks coach. It‚Äôs N.C. State and Syracuse, so it‚Äôs down to two.‚Äù
Shafer‚Äôs seven-year tenure as defensive coordinator at Northern Illinois could be panning out nicely for the Orange. Kimble isn‚Äôt ranked in Rivals‚Äô stars-system, but makes the case as a worthy dual-threat quarterback. The 6‚Äô4‚Äù 195 lb. Kimble passed for 1,427 yards and 10 TD passes, to go along with 957 rushing yards and 15 scores on his legs. That’s almost 2,500 total yards and 25 scores.
Shafer, along with new SU quarterbacks coach Tim Lester, made their way to Jerseyville to meet Kimble. He’s the second QB SU has targeted since¬†Zach Allen flipped to TCU.¬†New offensive coordinator George McDonald¬†has traveled down to the Sunshine State, perhaps meeting with¬†Houston quarterback commit John O‚ÄôKorn.
How do the two ACC schools’s depth charts look?¬†The Wolfpack says farewell to quarterback Mike Glennon, just like¬†the Orange sends Ryan Nassib to the NFL Draft. N.C. State welcomes back one senior, one junior, and two sophomore QBs, while Syracuse will have Charlie Loeb, John Kinder, Terrell Hunt, and Ashton Broyld. N.C. State has yet to receive a QB commit for the 2013 class. But as Austin Wilson remains devoted to the Orange. That‚Äôs the one advantage the Wolfpack may have.
SU and N.C. State are also battling for Malik Brown. A Florida native, Brown has retrieved interest from other schools such as West Virginia and the Wolfpack. New N.C. State head coach Dave Doeren has a long relationship with Dwyer High in West Palm Beach, Fla. It could be another loss as a result of Doug Marrone’s departure.
The Fizz reached out to O’Korn to gauge his interest after the hiring of McDonald, but he declined comment. If O’Korn’s out, Shafer’s visit to Jerseyville is huge. Shafer’s solid ties to the state of Illinois is making this a race.
Posted: Brendan Glasheen
