If you haven’t been keeping track, Northwestern has had one of its best recruiting stretches ever since the end of the NCAA’s dead period — which began alongside the pandemic — at the start of June. Today, the ‘Cats’ Class of 2022 got even better with the commitment of two-way lineman Austin Firestone, a consensus three-star recruit from Niceville, Fla. He slots at 440th nationally among the class in 247Sports’ composite rankings. Firestone’s commitment to NU over other final contenders Virginia and Vanderbilt was announced via a video published by the Northwest Florida Daily News
His ranking suggests that he’s the second most highly-touted prospect of Northwestern’s current class, jumping recent commit Trevon Howard and slotting in behind wide receiver Reggie Fleurima.