The Recruiting Trail: C.J. Fiedorowicz Ditches Illinois For Iowa
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.
Back at the end of October Blog Ten told you about C.J. Fiedorowicz, a tight end from Johnsburgh High School in Johnsburg, Illinois. Fiedorowicz is considered by Rivals to be the top tight end in the country right now, and earlier this year he gave an oral commitment to Ron Zook and the Fighting Illini.
Well, it turns out that the game against Cincinnati wasn’t the only thing the Illini lost this weekend.
As Blog Ten told you about back in October, Fiedorowicz seemed to be re-thinking his commitment to Illinois after seeing how they’ve failed to utilize the tight end position this season, and had planned a trip to Iowa on November 7. Not that shocking of a decision considering the way the Hawkeyes have used Tony Moeaki all year, and how tight ends always seem to flourish under Kirk Ferentz.
Well, it’s official now. Fiedorowicz has changed his mind and has backed out of his commitment to the Illini. Instead he’ll be a Hawkeye next fall.
“I wasn’t happy with what is going on at Illinois,” Fiedorowicz said. “I like all the coaches at Iowa. They will be staying around for a long time. I went to the Iowa/Minnesota game last weekend and the atmosphere was so much better than at Illinois. Now I feel good about my decision.”
Fiedorowicz said he opted to switch because he is impressed with the way Iowa coach Kirk Ferentz incorporates the tight end into his offense. He said he had become disenchanted with Illinois’ offensive system and reluctance to utilize the tight end in passing situations.
“Illinois doesn’t throw to the tight end, maybe 10 times all year,” he said. “But it is an important part of Iowa’s system. (Former Wheaton Warrenville South tight end) Tony Moeaki is in on every play. I hung out with him on Saturday night. He loves the Iowa program. He said there is no better school that he’d rather go to. He feels a part of the offense.”
Sounds like C.J. isn’t too confident that Zook will be around much longer. Other reasons he gave for the switch were that when he visited Champaign on the weekend they played Michigan State, the atmosphere just wasn’t all that impressive to him. He said that fans just seemed out of it.
Obviously this is a big blow to Zook’s recruiting class for 2010, and a nice boost to Ferentz’s. He’s now at the top of the list of what is an already solid class that includes fellow four-star prospects Andrew Donnal (OL Whitehouse, OH) and A.J. Derby (Athlete Iowa City, IA).
Though you do have to wonder how this will affect Derby, who most project to be a tight end at the college level, even if he wants to be a quarterback. It looks as though Derby could be destined to play safety or outside linebacker.
