RELATED: Son of former FSU QB announces commitment to rival school
Four-star defensive end Earnest Brown (6-foot-5, 233 pounds, Denton, TX) is one of the top prospects of the 2017 class, and he has offers from most major schools; Texas, Michigan, and Oklahoma all had offers in, but 247Sports expected the decision to come down between TCU and Texas A&M.
He picked neither of those. In fact, he didn't pick any of the expected powers, as Rivals.com reported on late Tuesday that Brown had committed to Northwestern.
This is a huge pickup for Northwestern and head coach Pat Fitzgerald, as it is a good indicator of their potential as a program. The Wildcats had consecutive 5-7 seasons in 2013 and 2014, but broke out for a 10-3 season in 2015. If they want to keep up with that kind of success in a conference like the Big Ten, recruits like Brown are going to be needed.
