The Recruiting Trail: Iowa’s About to Poach An Illini Commit
The Recruiting Trail is Blog Ten’s look at what Big Ten teams are doing on the recruiting front. Of course, you probably already figured that out, and if you hadn’t, well then you may still qualify to play in the SEC.
The world of recruiting can be pretty cutthroat at times, and a large reason for that is the fact that coaches across the country have to rely on the word of 17 to 18-year old kids who generally have a hard time trying to figure out whether they want Burger King or McDonalds.
Picking a college is an entirely different beast for any high schooler, let alone for one who is trying to base his choice more on what he wants to major in, or where his girlfriend is going. Back in July C.J. Fiedorowicz, a tight end from Johnsburgh High School in Johnsburgh, Illinois gave a verbal commitment to Ron Zook and the Fighting Illini.
A commitment that seems to be waning.
It’s not a surprise that Ron Zook would like to add Fiedorowicz to his 2010 class, as C.J. is considered a four-star prospect at tight end by Rivals, and is seen as the 5th best tight end in the Class of 2010. Unfortunately for Zook, when C.J. told him that he was going to be coming to Champaign next season, he’d yet to have seen an Illini game in 2009.
It seems he’s seen plenty of them since, because it looks like C.J. is having some second thoughts. Why else would he be planning on making a trip to Iowa City on November 7?
From HawkeyeReport.com (subscription required),
Four-star tight end C.J. Fiedorowicz verbally committed to Illinois back in July, but is now taking another look at his recruiting. The main school of interest right now for the 6-foot-7, 240-pound Fiedorowicz appears to be Iowa where he will make an official visit in the next couple of weeks.
“It’s still a verbal commitment to Illinois, but he’s rethinking things right now,” said Fiedorowicz’s mom, Lee Ann. “We’re planning to visit Iowa on November 7.”
See, I told you. And that was his mom talking so I think we can consider that to be a pretty reliable source.
Now why is C.J. reconsidering Illinois and now wondering about the Hawkeyes? Well, on the surface it looks pretty clear. Illinois is horrible right now, and Iowa is 7-0 and in position to win a Big Ten title. That’s not the only reason, though, as it appears Fiedorowicz isn’t that fickle.
No, instead C.J. has noticed that Illinois isn’t doing a very good job of utilizing the tight end position despite having some talented players there. Meanwhile, Tony Moeaki is tearing things up for the Hawkeyes as Ricky Stanzi loves to utilize his big target over the middle and up the seams.
Seems C.J. would like to go someplace where he’ll actually be able to showcase his talents, and I can’t say I blame him for it. He may not have officially changed his stance on the situation, but if I’m Ron Zook I wouldn’t be surprised to wake up on Sunday November 8 to find out that I’ve lost a recruit to the Hawkeyes.
In fact, I’d be expecting it.
