Beth Long’s football recruiting notebook

Tight end Brian Kaiser was a force on the field for New Trier as a junior and now the 6-7, 210-pound tight end has given an oral commitment to Northwestern.

“It’s the best feeling ever,” Kaiser said.

Kaiser also had offers from Western Michigan, Iowa State, Vanderbilt, Duke and more. The recruiting process was a busy one for the big-bodied athlete, but one that he thoroughly enjoyed.

“It was fun,” Kaiser said. “Awesome to know that my hard work is being noticed. Got stressful a week before I committed.”

At that point, Kaiser knew that the Wildcats were where his future lied.

“They have an amazing school for academics and they have coaches I can trust,” Kaiser said. “And the actual guys on the team are friendly and funny.”

The coaches that recruited Kaiser the most were Northwestern head coach Pat Fitzgerald and super backs coach Bob Heffner.

“I love Fitz’s honesty and Heffner’s humor,” Kaiser said.

Northwestern was always a school that Kaiser liked, in fact adding the Wildcats offer was a pretty big day for him.

“It was the second best feeling in the world,” Kaiser said. “Committing is number one.”

Not just for Kaiser though, his commitment was an exciting time for the whole family.

“My dad and mom were both super happy and proud of me. My mom even teared up a bit.”

Joseph Thompson at top of his game

One of the next top prospects for Phillips is emerging sophomore athlete Joseph Thompson. The 5-10, 160-pound prospect is getting recruited as an athlete but plays mostly corner and receiver for Phillips.

“Recruiting in general has been going steady,” Thompson said. “I have visited Michigan State and Northern Illinois. Then Penn State, Iowa State and Minnesota have also reached out to me.”

Thompson most recently added an offer from Northern Illinois.

“I visited Northern Illinois and a couple minutes before I was going to leave I went into the head coaches office and he told me that he was going to offer me,” Thompson said. That was the best feeling I’ve had in a while. It felt great and was a relief knowing that I will be going to school for free.”

On the two visits that Thompson has taken there are several things standing out to the sophomore.

“What I liked about the visits were the vibes of the campus, coaches and seeing the athletic departments,” Thompson said. “Also seeing what college is like with the dorms, academics and the players schedule.”

Coaches are responding to what Thompson has shown on the field.

“They are saying they like my passion, versatility, sacrificing for my teammates and my leadership,” Thompson said. “They think I bring a lot to the table at corner with the ability to play press man to man and coming up making tackles. Plus my technique at receiver and route running is something they say they like, just my overall game.”