'18 IL DE Devin O'Rourke (Northwestern Verbal)

[Wingman Ray]

Any reason to see he is any better than that DE recruit we had from TX a couple of years back?

 

[dublinirish]

I doubt he's getting an ND offer, and I'm completely at peace with that. Not a care in the world about it.

there are always white chicagoland kids every year in the same boat as him. Kid probably commits to a Big10 school while hoping for a late ND offer

 

[Luckylucci]

Any reason to see he is any better than that DE recruit we had from TX a couple of years back?

Grant Blankenship? Similar frames and games, I would agree with. However, Grant was a headcase and held himself back from what he should've been able to accomplish. Grant had the ability to be a productive football player, he just didn't have the want to.

 

[Luckylucci]

I doubt he's getting an ND offer, and I'm completely at peace with that. Not a care in the world about it.

I'm not going to give up the kid yet, nor ND's recruiting of him. I like a few of the SDE's we are after better, so as we continue to recruit those kids, hopefully we continue to recruit Devin as well. Try to get him on campus this Spring/Summer, let him know where he stands, and see what happens with guys like Booker, Carson, etc.

 

[Rogue219]

He plans to visit Minnesota the second weekend of April. Waggoner will be there March 21st as it turns out.

Last offer he received was January 31st. Does anyone have any insight as to why he hasn't received an offer in a month?

 

[BobbyMac]

He plans to visit Minnesota the second weekend of April. Waggoner will be there March 21st as it turns out.

Last offer he received was January 31st. Does anyone have any insight as to why he hasn't received an offer in a month?

He's received offers from Ole Miss, Iowa & Rutgers in the past 3 weeks.

Don't trust 247 timeline.

 

[Rogue219]

He's received offers from Ole Miss, Iowa & Rutgers in the past 3 weeks.

Don't trust 247 timeline.

Didn't seem right that he'd go that long without one.

Those three are rather "meh" offers but he's picked up three in a month, which is pretty good.

Next time I check in he either gets an ND offer or commits to a school. Moving along.

 

[SoIll]

https://twitter.com/SWiltfong247/status/840327027710427138

committed to Northwestern

 

[BobbyMac]

FWIW... Coach Polian followed him on Twitter in the past few days.

Is this the Circle Back Booker Back Up Plan being set in motion?

 

[Irish#1]

FWIW... Coach Polian followed him on Twitter in the past few days.

Is this the Circle Back Booker Back Up Plan being set in motion?

No, it's the "Damn we're not getting Booker after all, start following another recruit" plan being set in motion.

 

[BobbyMac]

No, it's the "Damn we're not getting Booker after all, start following another recruit" plan being set in motion.

 

[Veritate Duce Progredi]

Did I miss something? What happened with Booker? And why aren't people high on ORourke?

 

[BobbyMac]

Did I miss something? What happened with Booker? And why aren't people high on ORourke?

The Booker info coming out of his OV was generally positive. Just spitball speculation that maybe something is up for Brian Polian to finally start following O'Rourke. Polian has the Chicagoland area along with his westcoast duties.

As far as not being high on O'Rourke? No clue. He's got all kinds of ceiling. Him and Earnest Brown could be as good as anyone down the road at Northwestern.

 

[Luckylucci]

It sounds like Elko is very active recruiting, so maybe he sees something he likes. This has nothing to do with Booker.

 

[Wild Bill]

It sounds like Elko is very active recruiting, so maybe he sees something he likes. This has nothing to do with Booker.

His length and frame on the edge is enough to sell a coach. He puts up numbers against good competition too. Hopefully they flip him.

 

[dwshade]

ND likes where they are sitting with Booker. Hit all the right notes with his parents last week. Booker seems to like the "celebritydom" that comes with playing football at ND. Good relationship with a number of other commits.

 

[KizerWilhelm]

It seems like people are reading a lot into a follow on social media.

 

[BobbyMac]

It seems like people are reading a lot into a follow on social media.

You're right. ND's Director of Recruiting probably just clicked the wrong button.

 

[BobbyMac]

FWIW... Coach Polian followed him on Twitter in the past few days.

Is this the Circle Back Booker Back Up Plan being set in motion?

No, it's the "Damn we're not getting Booker after all, start following another recruit" plan being set in motion.

Your rep is in the mail.


Now that this is finally a thing with CBK & Elston involved, are we excited?

He's anchoring Illinois' #1 team and beat our old coach who was #2 at H-F 29-7. H-F had been averaging 40 per.

I hope he's open to it.

 

[koonja]

Your rep is in the mail.


Now that this is finally a thing with CBK & Elston involved, are we excited?

He's anchoring Illinois' #1 team and beat our old coach who was #2 at H-F 29-7. H-F had been averaging 40 per.

I hope he's open to it.

Can you translate this from Hebrew to English?

 

[Henges24]

Can you translate this from Hebrew to English?

Your Rep is being delivered via pigeon carrier

 

[BobbyMac]

Can you translate this from Hebrew to English?

My people didn't spend 40 years wandering so that I could translate my Pigskin Yiddish for you but since you're my guy Koon...

CBK = Coach Brian Kelly

our old coach = my HS's old HC

H-F = Homewood Flosmoor (HS) the #2 team in Illinois until O'Rourke's team beat them

I hope he's open to it = CBK, Elston (& ND) recruiting him

 

[koonja]

My people didn't spend 40 years wandering so that I could translate my Pigskin Yiddish for you but since you're my guy Koon...

CBK = Coach Brian Kelly

our old coach = my HS's old HC

H-F = Homewood Flosmoor (HS) the #2 team in Illinois until O'Rourke's team beat them

I hope he's open to it = CBK, Elston (& ND) recruiting him

Thanks.. I think. So CBK and Elston are now recruiting him? I guess I didn't get that memo, but if true, good to hear.

 

[Irish#1]

Thanks.. I think. So CBK and Elston are now recruiting him? I guess I didn't get that memo, but if true, good to hear.

I thought BK ran everything by you before he acted?

 

[BobbyMac]

I thought BK ran everything by you before he acted?

Obviously not.

See the Longo Must Go! rally Koon organized in Jr. High

 

[BobbyMac]

In a year where ND landed one top of the board guy after another, this one slipped through their net. Led his team to the 8A (top class) Illinois State Championship.

Had 81 Tkls ... 26.0 TFL ... 14.0 Sks in 14 G.

No reason both he and Ernest Brown are both at Nortwestern.

Devin O'Rourke is the Daily Southtown 2017 Football Player of Year - Daily Southtown

Devin O'Rourke is the Daily Southtown 2017 Football Player of Year

Lincoln-Way East's Devin O'Rourke looks like a football player.

More specifically, he looks like a menacing, 6-foot-6, 250-pound defensive end with a nose for the football.

His arms are long and muscular, allowing him to better rush the edge and wreak havoc in the backfield.

The Northwest recruit did that often, piling up 81 tackles, including 26 for loss, and 14 sacks. He regularly faced double-teams, but there was no stopping the Daily Southtown 2017 Football Player of the Year.

"Devin has all the intangibles physically," Griffins coach Rob Zvonar said. "He has great length, he bends his knees well. He has great leverage. He's a great person, which is a testament to his parents.

"Body, mind and heart — Devin brings all three of those to the game."

O'Rourke's contributions weren't limited to defense, either.

When the Griffins needed an additional push or protection on the offensive line, O'Rourke stepped in. There were games during East's playoff march to the Class 8A state championship when he played more than 100 snaps.

His excellence also isn't limited to the football field. He boasts a 4.1 GPA and a 27 on the ACT. And according to Zvonar, O'Rourke's leadership and work ethic are off the charts.

O'Rourke is pretty much the complete package, which raises the likelihood of a productive career at the collegiate level.

"Devin's a big-time lineman," Zvonar said.

O'Rourke was big in eighth grade, already standing 6-3. Coincidentally, that's about the time his love for the game started to grow.

"That's when I realized football was something I really wanted to work at," O'Rourke said. "So I really started putting in the time to get to the next level."

It's a level few others have reached.

Offensive lineman Jake Buhe has competed against O'Rourke in practice. Needless to say, it was a challenge.

"There's nothing you can do against him to stop him," Buhe said. "He has size, passion and quickness. He also knows what to do at the perfect time. He has a counter move to what you do. And he's one of the hardest workers on the team."

O'Rourke led a defense that only allowed more than 14 points in a game once.

Much of that success started on the defensive line, where O'Rourke, Jaden Hacha, Dylan Shelton and Ben Ravetto dominated. O'Rourke attributed the line's success to a common goal.

"We had excellent chemistry," O'Rourke said. "We worked well together and wanted to achieve the same thing — to win a state championship."

The Griffins accomplished that mission by downing Loyola 23-14 in the title game at Northern Illinois.

Speaking of colleges, O'Rourke had his pick of Division I powerhouses to attend. In March, he verbally committed to Northwestern. That still hasn't stopped schools from trying to change O'Rourke's mind.

He isn't budging. He's a young man of his word.

"Northwestern has been with me all the way through this process," he said. "It's the first college I visited. You can tell when someone backs up their word like Northwestern and coach (Pat) Fitzgerald has.

"They've shown nothing but respect to me and I feel I have to give it back."

For O'Rourke, success is a result of hard work. There were no shortcuts to winning the 8A state title.

"There aren't any breaks," he said. "We all worked extremely hard. We put in a lot of time and effort. To be able to win the state championship is a great feeling."

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[Irish#1]

In a year where ND landed one top of the board guy after another, this one slipped through their ne

Are we sure he slipped through or was this one where he didn't quite do it for the staff?

 

[BobbyMac]

Are we sure he slipped through or was this one where he didn't quite do it for the staff?

They made a run at him.

 

[Rogue219]

They made a run at him.

Why no offer?

 

[BobbyMac]

Why no offer?

Don't know they didn't. He hasn't reported an offer since he committed in March.