Success gives Huskies a leg up

Novak goes long to land QB prospect

Recruiting, the Novak way

A little something extra

Rick Armstrong=
Mr. Lowe=

can someone please post the link to this article.

Novak goes long to land QB prospect

By Rick Armstrong
STAFF WRITER

Word is getting around.

Northern Illinois football coach Joe Novak concentrates his recruiting close to home, but that hasn't stopped him from going the distance for an occasional recruit.

Leading receiver Sam Hurd, who completed his senior season last fall, came to the Huskies from San Antonio, Texas, late in the recruiting process thanks to a tip from a former Novak assistant.

He may have found another gem last week with the signing of quarterback Billy Lowe of Lakeland, Fla. Lowe's father, Joe, said Novak and his staff impressed him and his son.

"He didn't come across like a used car salesman," the father said. "They sure don't put a hard sell on you and they stressed education, which is the most important part. They keep it right."

Lowe, who was born in Germany, is a 6-foot-3, 214-pound lefty who has played full-time at QB only one season. His first three years of high school, he rotated with another signal caller. As a junior, he was an underweight linebacker.

A Florida state placer in wrestling at 171 pounds and a two-time AAU Greco-Roman All-America, Lowe, whose older brother Joe wrestles for North Carolina-Greensboro, gave the sport up this fall and focused on football. And began to fill out.

"He was his older brother's workout partner, and I think it toughened him up," his father said.

The southpaw completed 91 of 157 passes for 1,260 yards, 14 TDs and just two interceptions and rushed for another 441 yards and eight more TDs last fall on a team USA Today declared their high school national champs.

And after committing early in the fall to Florida Atlantic and coach Howard Schnellenberger, Lowe reversed fields and chose NIU.

Novak, who didn't sign a quarterback last year, started pursuing the prospect after receiving a tip from a friend who saw him play.

Billy Lowe said he really hit it off with former NIU assistant Derrick Jackson, who has since moved on to the Michigan State staff, but he was also impressed by Novak and offensive coordinator John Bond. During an official visit, where he was hosted by redshirt freshman Tim McCarthy, Lowe was convinced DeKalb was the place for him.

The youngster added that he was well aware the Mid-American Conference has been producing some top-notch quarterback talent for the pro ranks (Chad Pennington, Byron Leftwich, Ben Roethlisberger, Charlie Frye).

"I had watched (NIU) on TV several times, seeing them on midweek games," Lowe said. "I'm a college football freak."

Novak and his staff think that while Lowe is still rough around the edges, he's got a big upside.

As with all recruits, time will tell.
02/05/06

Success gives Huskies a leg up

By Rick Armstrong
STAFF WRITER

DEKALB

Recruiting, the Novak way

By Rick Armstrong
STAFF WRITER

DEKALB

thanks for the sweet links.

Perhaps some of those NIU fans and posters here who read them will not be so critical and complain about having to play many midweek home games to please the TV gods.

We may not like what those scheduled TV games do to our ability to attract fans to attend midweek games or the inconveniences to those fans determined to be there anways, you cannot argue against how invaluable TV exposure is to the lifeblood of a program.

You wanna build a big time program , you pay the piper.

thanks!!!!!

Certainly a different recruiting approach than Brookhart from Akron. During the Motor City Bowl there was a segment about his business marketing background and how he has a card for staff with scripted responses to the responses/questions of recruits. Kind of like a telemarketer. Seems like NIU's approach is more personal.

"I had watched (NIU) on TV several times, seeing them on midweek games," Lowe said.

^^One of the benefits of midweek games

NIUtrav09 Wrote:"I had watched (NIU) on TV several times, seeing them on midweek games," Lowe said.

^^One of the benefits of midweek games

Now, you will be seeing more and more games during mid-week. The Huskies will be playing for potential recruits, not for their fans. Maybe we could fill Huskie Stadium with potential recruits for all those weekday games to fill the seats vacated by the fans. Now I know I'm getting old. Oh, how I fondly remember the years when college football was played on Saturday afternoons.

Weeknight games are actually better in terms of getting recruits attention IMO. With Saturday games, the kids are often out with their friends, and even if at home, they are watching the Big 10 or Big 12 game on ABC, or the SEC game on CBS, or whatever the heck is on ESPN. When the game is on Wednesday or Thursday night, it's the only game in town in terms of TV, and at the same time it's a weeknight, so the recruits are at home doing homework or something like that. MUCH better strategy to get recruits attention, although it's a hassle to the fans obviously to have a Wednesday or Thursday night game.

NIUHuskies86 Wrote:Weeknight games are actually better in terms of getting recruits attention IMO. With Saturday games, the kids are often out with their friends, and even if at home, they are watching the Big 10 or Big 12 game on ABC, or the SEC game on CBS, or whatever the heck is on ESPN. When the game is on Wednesday or Thursday night, it's the only game in town in terms of TV, and at the same time it's a weeknight, so the recruits are at home doing homework or something like that. MUCH better strategy to get recruits attention, although it's a hassle to the fans obviously to have a Wednesday or Thursday night game.

You are correct about the appeal of being on national TV. Maybe we should play most or all of our games mid-week on national TV. We would be able to recruit from all over the country, like we did with Billy Lowe.

Screw the fans! Let's be happy with crowds like our basketball team draws with its mid-week games. The simple fact is this: the majority of fans who attend Saturday games are from Chicago and suburbs. They can not attend all the weekday games. I and many others I know will certainly have other uses for the thousands of dollars we give to NIU each year, that's for sure.

Dog Fan, is there any happy medium that would make you happy?

Personally, I dont mind 1 or 2 mid-week games. So long as we don't lose all the weekend game, I like the exposure and would argue that appealing to recruites, building the prestige of our program and getting better actually bennifits the fans.

dynovinyl Wrote:Dog Fan, is there any happy medium that would make you happy?

Personally, I dont mind 1 or 2 mid-week games. So long as we don't lose all the weekend game, I like the exposure and would argue that appealing to recruites, building the prestige of our program and getting better actually bennifits the fans.

I agree. I'm not saying we should play all Wednesday games, but I really think having 1 or 2 a year is a big recruiting boost and gets our name out there even more than it already is.

dynovinyl Wrote:Dog Fan, is there any happy medium that would make you happy?

Personally, I dont mind 1 or 2 mid-week games. So long as we don't lose all the weekend game, I like the exposure and would argue that appealing to recruites, building the prestige of our program and getting better actually bennifits the fans.

One mid-week game would be fine with me. Two would be stretching it. It just seems that everyone around the MAC is getting orgasms over the mid-week national exposure, and there is talk of increasing the number of mid-week games. I'll be the first to agree that these games give us needed exposure. But, at what expense? You risk alienating your growing fan base that has stood with the team through some horrible years. Could we possibly cut a deal with one of the many ESPN outlets to carry our Saturday games? Besides, our Saturday games on Comcast are already on "national" TV for those with cable or satellite and an expanded sports package.

If we have more and more mid-week games and still increase our fan base and consistently draw 25,000 - 27,000, I'll back off because obviously I'm wrong. However, I would give up my season tickets and just attend whatever Saturday games we play.

consider the BIG PICTURE.

Perhaps with more and better recruits and increased national exposure, the program can continue to grow and eventually become more frequently found playting on more Saturdays again.


On the other hand- hasn't NIU's basic recruiting strategy in Novak era been based upon having players and their familes within four hrs driving distance from DeKalb?

We typically sign a handful of players outside the radius. Will this change with more TV exposure? Perhaps it will depend upon how lean , rich or deep the pool in Chgoland is any one year. Lemming described this year's pool as shallow in numbers.