'09 IL OT Patrick Ward (Northwestern Verbal)

[burnsmi4]

Link to Rivals.com Profile

Link to Scout.com Profile

Offensive tackle
New Lenox (IL) Providence Catholic
Ht: 6-foot-6 (Event)
Wt: 295 lbs
Forty: 5.3 secs
Bench max: 300 pounds
Bench reps: 21
Squat max: 540 pounds
Vertical: 26 inches
Shuttle: 5.0 secs
GPA: 4.86
Class: 2009 (High School)




------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

4/28/2008

Scout - "Academically Speaking.." - $

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

4/28/2008

Rivals - "Ward Talks Northwestern" - $

[burnsmi4]

Article talking more about him and some of the offers. He hasn't narrowed his list yet. Smart kid with that GPA and ACT.

Scout.com: Academically Speaking…

[burnsmi4]

"I'm not releasing my final list yet," Patrick Ward said. "I've narrowed it down to seven, but I still haven't had a chance to talk to all the coaches yet and I want to do that before I tell everyone. I'm also calling the coaches of the schools that didn't make the list too. I'd like to commit before the season because I just want to concentrate on my senior year."

Patrick Ward, the 6-foot-7, 290-pound three-star offensive tackle from Providence Catholic High School in New Lenox, Ill., says he's narrowed down his final list to seven schools…but he's not telling.
"I'm not releasing my final list yet," Ward said. "I've narrowed it down to seven, but I still haven't had a chance to talk to all the coaches yet and I want to do that before I tell everyone.

"I'm also calling the coaches of the schools that didn't make the list too," he said. "I'd like to commit before the season because I just want to concentrate on my senior year."

Ward, Scout.com's No. 28 offensive tackle in the country, says he has around 25 scholarship offers and didn't attend any camps this summer. He did, however, visit three schools: Illinois, Stanford and Boston College, and admits all three stand a good chance of making his final list.

"Boston College is a great area and they have good academics," he said. "I also like how consistent the program has been over the past few years.

"Stanford was a great experience too," Ward said. "Obviously, the academics are great, but the team is getting better. The coach (Jim Harbaugh) is very enthusiastic and seems confident he'll get them back on track. He's really excited about this season and I like that. He seems like a good coach."

With offers from schools nationwide, Ward says that distance won't be a factor. "My parents are really open about me going anywhere," he said. "Just because Illinois is the home team (about two hours away) doesn't mean they have an advantage."

But the Fighting Illini are the team that Ward grew up watching and he admits he expects big things from them this coming season. "They lost a big guy in (running back) Rashard Mendenhall, but Juice (junior quarterback Juice Williams) is probably gonna be a better quarterback this year and the defense looked really good during the spring."

The school that Ward says is recruiting him the hardest is Wisconsin and he visited the Badgers during the spring.

One of his latest offers and a program that he is yet to visit is Nebraska. "I've been getting a lot of mail from them recently," he said. "They offered me not too long ago and the new coaches seem like good guys. I think they've got things going well there."

Another recent offer that Ward received was from Notre Dame. "They offered me about two weeks ago," he said. "That's really exciting. They said that when they finished their evaluations I was the best offensive lineman they hadn't offered yet, so they did.

"They have such a great program," he said of the Irish. "They have it all. The academics are great and they have some of the best tradition in the country."

Some of the other programs that have offered Ward are Northwestern, Vanderbilt, Purdue, Arizona, Northern Illinois, Virginia, Duke, Missouri and Iowa, among others.

Although Ward says he has his finalists narrowed down, he says he still hasn't made a final decision. "There's still a lot to think about," he said. "Right now I've got seven schools that I really like and could see myself playing at, but it's not like I've already made up my mind. I've still got some time.

"I'm looking for a school where I can major in engineering and get a good degree," he said. "I'd love to compete for a championship too. I guess I'm just looking for the best mix of athletics and academics."

Ward is a stellar student and reports a 4.8 core GPA (on a 4.0 scale) and a 35 ACT

Scout.com: Mystery Man

[SpartanFan81]

The guy is insanely smart. He needs to go to Stanford or an Ivy league school and just get a great education. Plus I dont even see him talk about us, so I doubt were a realistic choice

[msuferd]

35 ACT?

That's nothing.

Sincerely,
Budkow

In all honestly, the kid shouldn't even worry about football that much. Go to Stanford.

[CW]

Whoever wrote that article might not be that smart though. How do you have a 4.8 on a 4.0 scale?

Stanford would be a great school for a sharp kid like him to go, but there are others, Vandy, NW, MSU, Duke, for example.

[AASpartan]

Originally Posted by CW

Whoever wrote that article might not be that smart though. How do you have a 4.8 on a 4.0 scale?

AP credits and other weighted classes will get you a 4.8.

If a kid is that smart, I'd tell them to get the most out of their education. Regardless of whether or not they are football players.

[phavenst]

Originally Posted by CW

Whoever wrote that article might not be that smart though. How do you have a 4.8 on a 4.0 scale?

Stanford would be a great school for a sharp kid like him to go, but there are others, Vandy, NW, MSU, Duke, for example.

EDIT: MSU is a very nationally respectable school, but it is definitely the outlier in that group of schools you listed. (I would say the same thing if people tried to group UM with those schools)

[burnsmi4]

Originally Posted by phavenst

EDIT: MSU is a very nationally respectable school, but it is definitely the outlier in that group of schools you listed. (I would say the same thing if people tried to group UM with those schools)

Well if he wants to be a supply chain major then you come to MSU. If he wants to go to law school then head over to Stanford. All depends what he wants to do

[CW]

Originally Posted by burnsmi4

Well if he wants to be a supply chain major then you come to MSU. If he wants to go to law school then head over to Stanford. All depends what he wants to do

Well, he said he wants to major in engineering in the article in this thread. Here's USNWR's rankings, fwiw:

Engineering program rankings

If you look at who he's considering, he says he's down to 7 schools but didn't give a list, but he visited Stanford, Illinois and BC, who rank 2nd, 4th, and "not included on the list", respectively.

MSU is tied for 39th, with, among others, Vandy and Notre Dame. MSU has a very good engineering program, and is not the outlier in the list I posted earlier.

[burnsmi4]

Northwestern commit

[Jersey Spartan]

He has to be the biggest commit for northwestern in a long time.

[TeamCaptainJohn]

[spartaspartan]

makes sense, he is from Illinois and wants the real quality education. Northwestern fits him perfectly if he wanted to stay close to his family

[Jersey Spartan]

It's there first four star since the 2002 recruiting class where they had one four star DT commit.

[Yellowledbetter]

he comes from a good football school, they are usually one of the top teams in the Chicago area