Blue White Illustrated

T H E C L A S S O F 2 0 1 5 2016 class that could finish in the na- tional top five. The Buckeyes already had six verbal commitments as of this writing, five of which were from four- star recruits and one of which was from a five-star player (running back Kareem Walker of Wayne, N.J.). Playing well in a bowl game or win- ning a national championship, as Ohio State did this past season, tends to yield dividends one year down the road. That appears to be exactly what is happening with the Buckeyes. Meanwhile, James Franklin and his sta@ put in an intense e@ort on the recruiting trail that leB Penn State with the No. 2 class in the Big Ten. The Nittany Lions signed 25 players, 11 of whom received four-star ratings, with the rest all receiving three stars. The strength of the class is the defen- sive backs, who collectively ranked No. 1 in the Big Ten. In John Reid of St. Joseph's Prep in Philadelphia and Gar- rett Taylor of St. Christopher's High in Richmond, Va., Penn State signed the two highest-rated cornerbacks in the Big Ten. Rivals ranked Taylor as the ninth-best cornerback in the country, while Reid came in 16th. Penn State also landed two of the top running backs in the Big Ten in Saquon Barkley of Whitehall, Pa., and Andre Robinson of Bishop McDevitt High School in Harrisburg, Pa. The Big Ten team that made the biggest jump in the >nal days was Michigan State. Mark Dantonio signed athlete Andre Dowell and his twin brother, defensive back David Dowell, of Lakewood, Ohio, as well as defen- sive lineman Raequan Williams of Chicago. All four are four-star prospects, and their signings gave the Spartans the third- best class in the Big Ten. Rivals rated it 22nd nationally. Ohio State, Penn State and Michigan State were the only Big Ten schools to >n- ish in Rivals' top 30. Nebraska (31) and Wisconsin (37), both of which hired new coaches aBer the sea- son, were the only other Big Ten pro- grams to make the top 40. Nebraska's most notable recruit is de- fensive back Eric Lee of Highlands Ranch, Colo., one of the Cornhuskers' five four-star prospects. Wisconsin's top three recruits are running backs Bradrick Shaw of Hoover, Ala., and Jordan Stevenson of Dallas, and tight end Kyle Pennis- ton of Santa Ana, Calif., all of whom received four stars. The Big Ten school with the most surprising class was Illinois. The Illini's class ranked 45th overall thanks in large part to two four-star players: running back Ke'Shawn Vaughn of Nashville and defensive tackle Jamal Milan of Chicago. That brings us to Michigan. ABer taking over in late December, Jim Har- baugh signed 14 players, including two four-star quarterbacks: Zach Gentry of Albuquerque, N.M., and Alex Mal- zone of Bloom>eld Hills, Mich. Minnesota (51), Rutgers (52), Mary- land (54), Iowa (58) and Purdue (68) all struggled with their recruiting ef- forts. ■ T wo weeks before signing day, it ap- peared certain that Alabama would end up with its fourth top-ranked recruiting class in the past >ve years. Nick Saban and his sta@ seemed to be creating some separation between themselves and the rest of the Football Bowl Subdivision. But about 72 hours before signing day (Feb. 4), the picture began to change. USC started to show signs that it could overtake Saban and steal the Class of 2015 recruiting title. That is exactly what took place. In the run-up to signing day, Steve Sarkisian and his sta@ landed four >ve-star re- cruits: defensive back Inman Marshall of Long Beach, Calif., defensive end Rah- seem Green of Gardena, Calif., line- backer/defensive end Porter Gustin of Salem, Utah, and linebacker John Hous- ton, a teammate of Green at Junipero High School. It was as impressive a signing day haul as any FBS school has had in the past >ve years. The Trojans didn't exactly come out of nowhere to land the No. 1 class in the country, but with three days to go in the 2015 recruiting cycle, no one was predicting they would end up with the RIVALS BIG TEN 1. Ohio State (9) 2. Penn State (15) 3. Michigan State (22) 4. Nebraska (31) 5. Wisconsin (37) 6. Illinois (45) 7. Indiana (48) 8. Michigan (49) 9. Minnesota (51) 10. Rutgers (52) 11. Maryland (54) 12. Iowa (58) 14. Purdue (68) * National rankings in parenthesis USC surges to claim recruiting crown N A T I O N A L O U T L O O K

• Cover