Northwestern announces 2016 recruiting class

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The next batch of Cats is officially all signed up.

Northwestern announced its 2016 recruiting class Wednesday morning, welcoming 20 signees.

"Every year, this is an exciting day for the future of our football family but more importantly a transformational day for these young men and their families," head coach Pat Fitzgerald said in the announcement. "Each will contribute to our pursuit of a Big Ten championship on the field and earn the best education in college football. Our staff has had the opportunity to get to know each recruit extensively over the last several years, and we look forward to welcoming them to Evanston this summer."

[MORE BIG TEN: Report: Illini wrapping up interviews with seven candidates for AD job]

The class is headlined by its lone four-star recruit, per Rivals' rankings: defensive back Roderick Campbell. The St. Louis native committed to Fitzgerald 10 months ago and was ranked as one of the top 250 players in the country. He's one of the top-20 defensive backs in the Class of 2016 and the No. 3 player in the state of Missouri. Campbell picked Northwestern over offers from Arizona State, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Louisville, Maryland, Notre Dame, Purdue and Vanderbilt.

The one quarterback in this year's class is Aidan Smith, a native of Fort Wayne, Ind. He's ranked as the No. 12 pro-style quarterback in this class and the No. 5 player in the state of Ohio.

This year's class is almost halfway made up of players from Ohio, with eight coming from the Buckeye State. The top-ranked Ohio natives are running back Jeremy Larkin from Cincinnati, defensive end Tommy Carnifax from Warren and offensive linemen Gunnar Vogel from Westerville and Nik Urban from Willoughby.

The Cats did sign a pair of players from inside the Land of Lincoln, making a splash with Libertyville's Riley Lees, who was one of the top quarterbacks in the state this past season but who will play wide receiver at Northwestern. Fitzgerald also welcomes in Eric Eshoo, a Loyola Academy product who will play superback.

In addition to those two pass-catchers, there are more additions who could help out a passing game that struggled last season: wide receivers Bennett Skowronek (Fort Wayne, Ind.) and Ramaud Chiaokhiao-Bowman (Minneapolis).

[SHOP BIG TEN: Get your Northwestern gear right here]

Here's the complete list of Northwestern's 20 Class of 2016 signees, plus two players who will join the program as walk-ons:

— Jesse Brown, RB, Lilburn, Ga.
— Brian Bullock, DB, Round Rock, Texas
— Roderick Campbell, DB, St. Louis, Mo.
— Tommy Carnifax, DE, Warren, Ohio
— Ramaud Chiaokhiao-Bowman, Minneapolis, Minn.
— Eric Eshoo, SB, Chicago, Ill.
— Paddy Fisher, LB, Katy, Texas
— Tyler Gillikin, LS, Atlanta, Ga.
— Jango Glackin, LB, Lebanon, Ohio
— Mark Gooden, LB, Reynoldsburg, Ohio
— Cam Kolwich, OL, Beverly Hills, Mich.
— Jeremy Larkin, RB, Cincinnati, Ohio
— Riley Lees, WR, Libertyville, Ill.
— Jesse Meyler, OL, Toronto, Ontario
— Alex Miller, DL, Houston, Texas
— Parker Oliver, WR, Dallas, Texas
— Jake Saunders, DT, Loveland, Ohio
— Bennett Skowronek, WR, Fort Wayne, Ind.
— Aidan Smith, QB, Fort Wayne, Ind.
— Travis Whillock, DB, Katy, Texas
— Nik Urban, OL, Willoughby, Ohio
— Gunnar Vogel, OL, Columbus, Ohio

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