Beth Long’s football recruiting notebook

SHARE Beth Long’s football recruiting notebook
tst.0019.402278.867c6ff8ef90549fa05effac217a879e_630x420.jpg

The options are increasing for Kyle Pugh.

Bloom’s three-star linebacker prospect has added offers from Toledo and Wyoming and recently visited Syracuse to check out the campus.

“I don’t know much about either of the programs I just got offers from but I have heard some good things about both,” Pugh said. “I’ll probably try to make it out and visit Toledo.”

That might be the 6-foot-1, 195-pound prospect’s last visit until his official visits come around in the fall.

“I think I’m done with visits and camps for the summer, I think that I am pretty much narrowing it down, and I think I am going to wait until after I go on my official visits to make my decision,” he said.

Pugh will be able to take official visits when he begins his senior year. Visits likely will include trips to Northern Illinois, Western Michigan and Syracuse. In the meantime, he is continuing to enjoy the recruiting process.

“For me, the best part is getting all this attention,” Pugh said. “For me to have nine Division I offers is more than I could ever have dreamed of and I think there are more to come.”

Pugh cited Nebraska and Minnesota as among his newest suitors.

Booker headed to Indiana

Grayslake North defensive back Titus Booker has given a verbal commitment to Indiana.

To kick off the evaluation period, Booker had a big performance in the state track and field meet, showing off his speed with a runner-up finish in the 100 meters in 10.64 seconds. After that effort, he picked up offers from Indiana and Wisconsin.

It turns out that Indiana is where his heart is and that confirmation was all he needed to commit.

“I feel like I built a strong relationship with Indiana,” Booker said. “I feel like I can get on the field early and I love the direction that the program is going in.”

Booker is 6-foot, 175 pounds and part of his decision-making process was looking at what defense he fit the best in. The Hoosiers fit the bill.

“Well, I know that they are looking for more physical and bigger corners,” Booker said. “And that is what I am, so I like that.

“When I told them I committed they were excited and glad to have me. They feel like they are recruiting an elite recruiting class so far.”

Several other prospects from the area will join Booker in the Hoosiers 2015 class, including Montini wide receiver Leon Thornton and Crete-Monee linebacker Omari Stringer.

Scout recruiting national analyst Allen Trieu has seen Booker, a three-star prospect, play over the last several years and thinks he will fit in well with the Indiana defense.

“Booker is a good athlete with good makeup speed, leaping ability and a long build,” Trieu said. “He has played more offense in high school and must continue to work on his technique and get stronger before competing at the college level, but he has a good set of physical tools and a high upside.”

The Latest
The man suffered head trauma and was pronounced dead at University of Chicago Medical Center, police said.
Another federal judge in Chicago who also has dismissed gun cases based on the same Supreme Court ruling says the high court’s decision in what’s known as the Bruen case will “inevitably lead to more gun violence, more dead citizens and more devastated communities.”
Women make up just 10% of those in careers such as green infrastructure and clean and renewable energy, a leader from Openlands writes. Apprenticeships and other training opportunities are some of the ways to get more women into this growing job sector.
Chatterbox doesn’t seem aware that it’s courteous to ask questions, seek others’ opinions.
The way inflation is measured masks certain costs that add to the prices that consumers pay every day. Not surprisingly, higher costs mean lower consumer confidence, no matter what Americans are told about an improving economy.