Big Ten Football Weekly Recruiting Update: August 9, 2011

Here are updates for every Big Ten team, which will be provided on a weekly basis throughout the college football season until national signing day.

Illinois

Last Friday, the Fighting Illini received a verbal commitment from 6'0" and 180-pound safety Zach Jackson (Snellville, GA).

The Brookwood High School star does not have a star rating on Rivals.com, but had offers from Michigan State, Vanderbilt and Mississippi State.

"We went up to Illinois and really liked the campus and everything they had to offer and the degree I can get from there," Jackson told OrangeandBlueNews.com. "I just liked everything about Illinois, and had a chance to play early too. I feel really good about my decision." 

Illinois also picked up their eighth verbal commitment for their 2012 class Sunday afternoon when three-star safety Tyler Barton (Orlando, FL) decided Champaign was the right place for him. Barton's other offers were from Elon, Ball State, Syracuse and Temple.

Indiana

Monday afternoon, Peegs.com reported strongside defensive end prospect Shawn Heffern (Carmel, IN) became the 16th commitment of Indiana's 2012 recruiting class.

Heffern had offers from Purdue, Central Michigan, Toledo and Western Michigan. Other schools who began taking an interest in the 6'6", 240-pounder were Michigan State, Northwestern and Notre Dame.

The Hoosiers also played host to three-star running back Tevin Coleman (Oak Forest, IL) last week.

"It was a good visit. I was impressed with the facilities and everything," Coleman told Peegs.com last Thursday. "I also liked the coaches. They showed me around and I got to see a lot of things. They are very good coaches and I enjoyed getting to know them."

The Oak Forest High School tailback also mentioned Michigan State, Iowa and Georgia Tech as his other favorites at the moment. Coleman plans to trim his list of schools down to a "top three or a top four" before the start of his senior season.

Iowa

Highly touted offensive tackle prospect Alex Kozan (Castle Rock, CO), who is the No. 226 overall prospect in the class of 2012, told Blair Sanderson of Rivals.com he will make an official visit to Iowa on September 24th. The Hawkeyes take on Louisiana-Monroe at Kinnick Stadium the date of Kozan's visit.

The four-star lineman also announced his top seven schools on Monday. Iowa, Arkansas, Colorado, Illinois, LSU, Oregon and Oklahoma State are all still in the mix to sign Kozan, but do not expect a decision from him until winter.

Kozan has not set up any other visits yet, which likely means the Hawkeyes are his current front-runner.

Two-star linebacker Laron Taylor (Detroit, MI) committed to Iowa last Friday and his Cass Tech High School teammate, three-star athlete Ruben Lile (Detroit, MI), will choose between attending Wisconsin, Iowa or Toledo on August 27th.

Michigan

The Wolverines' 2012 recruiting class picked up yet another four-star prospect on Monday afternoon when defensive tackle Ondre Pipkins (Kansas City, MO) verbally committed to Michigan.

The timing of Pipkins' decision came as a surprise and was not supposed to come until later in the fall. But the mystique of the Big House was too enticing and played a major factor in the 6'3", 325-pounder's commitment.

"You feel the college atmosphere just coming into the Big House," the No. 246 overall prospect in the country said last Monday. "I had chills going down my spine. Looking up in the stands, it was crazy and I had a wonderful feeling there."

On a less positive note, one of the Wolverines' top 2012 commits, four-star cornerback Terry Richardson, announced he will be taking official visits to other schools, but is not rescinding his verbal pledge.

Michigan will not sit around and wait for Richardson to see how well he likes his other trips, though. The coaching staff quickly re-opened the recruitment of four-star cornerbacks Armani Reeves (West Roxbury, MA) and Yuri Wright (Ramsey, NJ) last week.

Wright, who is the No. 41 overall recruit and No. 2 player at his position, plans on taking an official visit to Ann Arbor for either Michigan's prime-time tilt with Notre Dame on September 10th or for the Ohio State game on November 26th.

Michigan State

Four-star safety Demetrious Cox (Jeannette, PA), three-star offensive tackle Robert Conyers (Miami, FL) and unrated defensive end Kodi Kieler (Gibraltar, MI) all made unofficial visits to East Lansing last weekend.

Cox told Paul Day of SpartanMag.com on Sunday that Michigan State had a unique feeling to it.

"All of my visits have gone pretty well, but the people at Michigan State just give me a special feeling," Cox said.

The Jeannette High School star and No. 14 rated safety will narrow his list of schools down to eight or 10 in the coming weeks.

Conyers also said his visit went well and Kieler committed to the Spartans Monday afternoon as soon as he was offered a scholarship by Mark Dantonio's staff. Kieler chose Michigan State over Big Ten Conference foes Purdue and Minnesota.

Click here for more details about the Spartans latest visitors. 

Minnesota

It was a fairly quiet week on the Golden Gopher's recruiting front, but they were able to secure a commitment from running back Rodrick Williams Jr. (Lewisville, TX) at the end of July. The Lewisville High School standout discussed his decision with GopherIllustrated.com last Tuesday.

"Coach (Jerry) Kill has a history of turning teams around and I want to be a part of that rebirth. It is an exciting time at Minnesota," Williams Jr. said.

The Golden Gophers now have 17 verbal commitments in their 2012 recruiting class, but none of them are rated higher than three-stars.

Nebraska

The Cornhuskers did not pick up any new commitments last week, but a trio of highly touted prospects informed the Nebraska coaching staff they will be taking official visits to Lincoln.

Four-star cornerback Brandon Beaver (Compton, CA) told Mike Matya of HuskerOnline.com last Wednesday he is "90 percent" certain he will be setting up an official visit with Nebraska for their September 10th game against Fresno State.

"Right now I'm setting up one with Nebraska, and Washington will also get one, but Nebraska is probably closest to being my first official right now," Beaver said.

Five-star defensive end Jonathan Bullard (Shelby, NC) has begun setting up his official visits and will make the trip to Memorial Stadium on October 8th for Nebraska's highly anticipated matchup against Ohio State.

Finally, three-star defensive tackle Vincent Valentine (Edwardsville, IL) is eyeing the Cornhusker's battle against Michigan State on October 28th for his official visit. Valentine plans to narrow his list of schools down to seven soon, but Nebraska is still the clear favorite in his recruitment.

Northwestern

It has also been a slow week in recruiting for the Wildcats. The only noteworthy news from the recruiting trail was the No. 100 overall prospect and No. 7 ranked strongside defensive end, Faith Ekakitie (Lake Forest, IL), announced Northwestern is among his top five schools via his blog, FaithFlex.com.

"As far as my 'list' goes, NU is definitely in my top 5 schools to choose from right now..." Ekakitie posted last Tuesday.

The Lake Forest Academy standout has an official visit set-up with Boston College and is also looking at Oregon, UCLA, Penn State, Wisconsin and Georgia Tech.

Ohio State

The Buckeyes are looking to poach four-star wide receiver Andre McDonald (Minnetonka, MN) from the Minnesota Golden Gophers.

The No. 1 player in the state of Minnesota de-committed from the Golden Gophers recruiting class last week and is taking a closer look at Ohio State, Iowa and Vanderbilt.

"Ohio State has always been my favorite school since I was a kid," McDonald told Rivals.com recruiting analyst Marc Givier last Wednesday. "As far as the programs right now and everything, I don't really favor anyone."

The Buckeyes chances to sign the Top 250 wideout will hinge on the outcome of their meeting with the NCAA's committee on infractions.

"With any recruit it's kind of tough to think about going somewhere where you won't be eligible to play in certain games," McDonald said. "So I'm not going to want to go somewhere where I'm not going to be able to play in big bowl games."

Unrated receiver Roger Lewis (Pickerington, OH) met with members of the Buckeye coaching staff last Monday and is on the brink of receiving a scholarship offer from Ohio State.

"They said they were going to offer but I have to talk to coach Fickell first," Lewis said.

Penn State

One benefit of playing a preseason top-five program during the non-conference slate is how attractive the game is to potential visitors. Penn State received word last week that three more prospects will be in Happy Valley for the Nittany Lions duel with the Alabama Crimson Tide, who were ranked No. 2 in the recent USA Today Preseason Coaches' Poll.

Four-star athlete Canaan Severin (Worcester, MA), four-star defensive back Demetrious Cox (see Michigan State news) and safety Mike Tyson (Norfolk, VA) all plan on attending the September 10th game between the two storied programs.

Severin has shown interest in Boston College, Connecticut, Rutgers and Virginia, along with the Nittany Lions. He is expected to choose a school in September.

Penn State is also making a run at Rivals.com's No. 1 rated tight end prospect Kent Taylor (Land O'Lakes, FL). 

Click here for more details in addition to an in-depth breakdown of Cox's interest in the Nittany Lions.

Purdue

The most noise on the recruiting trail last week came out of West Lafayette. The Purdue Boilermakers obtained verbal commitments from three-star tight end Jonathan Curry (Phoenix City, AL) and three-star athlete Anthony Brown (Tampa, FL). 

Curry chose the Boilermakers over Nebraska, Wake Forest, Stanford and Mississippi State, among others.

"(Purdue) made it known I was wanted and needed, and that was big for me," Curry told GoldandBlack.com last Monday,

Meanwhile, Brown became the Boilermakers' 11th commitment of their 2012 class during an unofficial visit last Friday.

"I just liked what I saw, the environment and the coaches," Brown said. "And I can see myself there for the next four or five years."

Three-star wide receiver Drico Johnson (Orlando, FL) verbally committed to Central Florida last Tuesday. Johnson was expected to make a decision closer to August 23rd, but decided he wanted to stay closer to home instead of heading north to Purdue, Indiana or Northwestern.

Finally, three-star linebacker Jamie Willis (Fort Meade, FL) said last Monday he will "most likely" use one of his official visits to see Purdue in action at Ross Ade Stadium this season.

Wisconsin

The award for quietest recruiting week goes to the Wisconsin Badgers, who did not receive any new commitments and hosted just one notable prospect, three-star offensive tackle Walker Williams (Tacoma, WA).

"So this visit was actually really good because they were able to answer all the questions I had for them," Williams said Monday. "I got to talk with a couple professors in the nuclear engineering program because that's what I plan on going into. I got to hang out with the guys and talk with the coaches, so it was a really good visit."

The Badger coaching staff is encouraging Williams to take his time with his recruiting process, which is advice he plans on taking. Williams also told BadgerBlitz.com he will be making a return trip to Madison this fall to take in a game.

Zach Dirlam is a Big Ten Columnist for the new website Sports at Work. Check out his blog, Dirlam’s Dirty Dugout Sports Blog, which features this story along with other articles and video reports on the major sports. You can also follow his blog on Twitter, which will provide you with the latest updates about what will be posted on the blog!