Big Ten Football Weekly Recruiting Roundup: Legends Division Goes Berserk

Every week here at The Big Ten Blog, we will update you on the latest commits, decommits and rumors in the recruiting world. Normally that means one update for the entire conference every week. Not so this week, after an insane amount of commits throughout the league.

Here's the breakdown from the Legends Division, which received 16 verbal commitments this week. In other words, if each team signs its full allotment of 25 players in February, the entire division will have taken care of about 11 percent of its commitments in this one week. In June.

This is real life.

Commits

Michigan

The Wolverines nabbed cornerback Channing Stribling last week after the lanky native of North Carolina impressed at local camps, per MGoBlog. Stribling is only a 2-star prospect according to Rivals.com, but presumably their scouts will decide that if Stribling is good enough for Michigan, he's good enough for at least a third star.

Michigan State

After going silent for over two months, Michigan State's recruiting board lit up with four commitments in the last week.

Cornerback Darian Hicks of Solon (OH) spurned five other Big Ten offers, including Penn State, to commit to the Spartans, per the Detroit News. Hicks is superbly athletic with great leaping ability, and he's shifty enough in the open field that he could see some time as a returner if his hands are reliable enough.

Also in the mix now is TE Dylan Chmura (yes, son of former Packers star Mark Chmura), per CBSSports.com. Michigan State was the first BCS-level program to offer Chmura, but he was impressive enough at the Spartans' camp that he was offered there and a commitment came shortly thereafter.

Wideout Jay Harris also jumped on board this week, the Detroit Free Press reported. According to the Free Press, he held offers from schools like Pitt and Penn State, but Scout.com doesn't list offers from either of those two schools. Still, Michigan State clearly saw something it liked in the 5'11", 170-pound recruit; per his highlight reel, he's certainly not lacking for speed or agility.

Finally, Trey Kilgore, a 6'2" wideout with a host of Big Ten offers, committed to Michigan State on Monday, per Cincinnati.com. Kilgore is a big, athletic target—think Mark Dell with a higher ceiling. His GPA isn't listed on Rivals.com, but he told Cincinnati.com that the majors he's considering include engineering and radiology, so academics proooobably won't be a concern with this kid. 

Iowa

No school in the Big Ten was more active this week than Iowa, as the Hawkeyes racked up six verbal commitments to shoot up to 15 on the year.

Iowa's week started Thursday with a verbal from Derrick Mitchell Jr., per ESPN.com. ESPN says Mitchell, who's listed as an athlete after playing wideout and defensive back in high school, is projected as a receiver for Iowa. The next day, per STLToday.com, Andre Harris—who, like Mitchell, is from the St. Louis area—committed; he too is expected to line up at wideout as Iowa tries to improve its speed on the edges.

Friday also saw a commitment from Sean Welsh, a 6'3", 275-pound big body from Springboro High (OH), per KyPost.com. Welsh is likely to see time at guard early on, and he may fit the profile at center for the Hawkeyes as well. He selected Iowa over schools like Cincinnati, Kentucky and Miami (FL).

Iowa finished off the week on Sunday by getting three more commitments. One came from Ike Boettger, an unheralded Cedar Falls (IA) QB who projects as a tight end and impressed coaches at camp that weekend, per The Gazette. He's 6'5" and 220 pounds and reportedly runs a 4.6 40 (note: do not trust any high schooler this size who says he runs a 4.6, ever), so there's probably some potential.

Also impressing at camp was Des Moines (IA) linebacker Trevon Young, who committed to the Hawkeyes over Iowa State, per the Des Moines Register. Young told the Register he expects to move to DE after putting on 30-plus pounds.

The big get of the week for Iowa was safety Solomon Warfield, who turned down offers from schools like Penn State, Michigan State and West Virginia to commit on Sunday, per ESPN.com. Warfield, at 6'0" and 170, is a powerful hitter over the middle and looks to bring more toughness to the Iowa secondary. He does have a hit reel, though it's sadly brief:

Northwestern

The Wildcats' class is starting to come together in a big way; Northwestern has added eight commitments in the last three weeks, including a three-pack this week. The Wildcats have a commitment from kicker Hunter Niswander, according to Scout.com. Scholarship kickers are very good things to have lined up.

Pat Fitzgerald also secured a verbal from RB Xavier Menifield, per WildcatReport.com ($), without Menifield ever visiting the school. Well, when your other offers are from Air Force, Army and Wyoming, you do things like that.

The Wildcats' third commitment is athlete Kyle Quiero, per NUSports.com. At 6'3" and 185, Quiero projects as either a wideout or a safety in the Big Ten.

Minnesota

Minnesota has doubled its recruiting class for the second straight week, although this is just a jump from two to four. Still, four's much better than one when everyone else is gobbling up commits themselves!

Last Thursday saw a commitment from Owen Salzwedel, a defensive end from Beaver Dam (WI), per the Wisconsin State Journal. Salzwedel is 6'5" and 235 pounds (Rivals.com has him at 6'6") with a frame to put on plenty more weight, but as of right now he's still under the radar; Minnesota was Salzwedel's first non-MAC offer.

Minnesota followed that verbal up with one from mobile quarterback Chris Streveler from Illinois, per McHenryCountySports.com. Minnesota was the first FBS team to offer Streveler and plans to rush him eight to 12 times a game in Jerry Kill's offense, according to the recruit. 

Decommits

None, again. These recruits are all surprisingly firm in their commitments despite jumping on board so early. Then again, we still have seven months before the last-minute offers from high-profile schools start coming in.

News & Rumors

Michigan's 2013 class may be almost set, but it's hosting two high-profile recruits this week, per MGoBlog. Tailback Jordan Wilkins came to town Tuesday; he would fill a still-present need at RB for Michigan. Auburn appears to lead for Wilkins, though. Likewise, WR Alvin Bailey will be in town soon, and Michigan would love a commitment from the 4-star talent.

Two-sport star Drake Harris is set to announce his college choice this evening; he's reportedly choosing between Michigan and Michigan State. His Twitter handle is @dharrisbball4, though, so if he's forced to choose one sport it's probably easy to figure out which it'd be.

UPDATE: Michigan State is the call, says Diamond Leung of MLive.com.