The college recruiting process came to a conclusion Wednesday for Copley senior Aregeros Turner when he signed a national letter of intent to play football at Northern Illinois.
Huskies coach Rod Carey got Turner’s signature to cap an interesting past year for the Indians’ standout running back.
NIU has won the past two Mid-American Conference championships and became the first MAC team to play in a Bowl Championship Series bowl game when it lost to Florida State in the Orange Bowl last month. Dave Doeren was the Huskies coach for the past two seasons and compiled a 23-4 record, but he left for the same position with North Carolina State in December.
Turner, a 5-foot-11 and 170-pound running back, was also being recruited by Cincinnati, Illinois, Michigan State, Purdue, Tennessee, Toledo, Washington and West Virginia.
Turner had previously committed to Cincinnati, but decommitted after coach Butch Jones departed for the same job at Tennessee in December.
“Aregeros has had kind of a lot on his plate the last several weeks because of that coaching change at Cincinnati,” Copley coach Ron Viscounte said. “Between getting visits in and playing basketball [at Copley], he has been very busy. The running back coach at Cincinnati, coach [Roy] Manning, is at NIU. Aregeros really hit it off well with him and they had a good relationship. He felt comfortable with him. I think his parents then wanted to make a trip out there to make sure about the academics. They did that and everyone is comfortable with this decision.”
Turner flashed his speed as a senior and rushed for 1,378 yards and 19 touchdowns on 208 carries. He also had 17 receptions for 249 yards and two touchdowns. Turner suffered a broken right leg during his junior year. He gained 3,374 rushing yards in his first three seasons on 528 carries and scored 36 touchdowns. He added 22 receptions for 310 yards.
Carey served as NIU’s offensive coordinator, offensive line coach and run game coordinator before being promoted to head coach.
Irish players mull offers
National signing day for high school senior football players Wednesday didn’t generate much buzz at St. Vincent-St. Mary.
St. V-M coach Dan Boarman said several players from the Division II state championship team continue to get recruited by colleges, but none has made a decision yet.
Boarman said Irish seniors Jordan Hargrove, Fransohn Bickley, Clayton Uecker and Joey Weber are considering their options.
“They are all looking at different places,” Boarman said. “They will end up somewhere.”
Junior linebacker Dante Booker and junior running back Parris Campbell Jr. both have multiple scholarship offers.
Booker holds offers from Ohio State, Michigan, Oklahoma, Penn State, Illinois, Indiana, Nebraska and Notre Dame. Auburn, Georgia Tech and Wisconsin are among several other schools interested in Booker.
Campbell has been offered by Ohio State, Michigan State and Tennessee. He is also garnering interest from Indiana, Penn State, Akron, Cincinnati and Northwestern.
Tallmadge seniors sign
Tallmadge coach Joe Vassalotti said three seniors from the Blue Devils Division II playoff team made their college decisions.
Blue Devils tight end Jacob Wood committed to Youngstown State, quarterback Anthony Gotto pledged to the University of Akron as a preferred walk-on and linebacker Logan Banks is headed to the University of Mount Union.
Four Warriors commit
In addition to Toledo recruits Doug Lewis and Crissean Caver, Walsh Jesuit will send Ryan Budny to Robert Morris University and Kinosha Spencer to St. Francis University (Pa.).
Budny is a defensive lineman and Spencer plays defensive end and outside linebacker.
A Rough Rider to watch
Kent Roosevelt coach John Nemec said junior linebacker Matt Sommers is generating interest from several colleges, including Kent State, Bowling Green and Akron.
Sommers, 6-foot-2 and 230 pounds, was named the Portage Trail Conference Metro Division Player of the Year this past season, his second as a starter.
Nordonia senior signs
Nordonia coach Jeff Fox said senior Victor Hudson accepted a scholarship offer from Edinboro University.
Hudson played defensive end and wide receiver for the Knights. He had 15 sacks as a senior on a Knights team that was a Division I state qualifier.
Michael Beaven can be reached at 330-996-3829 or mbeaven@thebeaconjournal.com. Read the high school blog at http://www.ohio.com/preps. Follow him on Twitter at http://twitter.com/MBeavenABJ and on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/sports.abj.
