Final Midwest Rankings - #12

The ink is dry and now we take a look at who won the recruiting battle in the Big Ten. We included Notre Dame in these rankings.

12. Indiana University

The Big Fish - Running Back – Kenni Burns

The One That Got Away

Safety – Kevin Mitchell (Illinois)

Gerry DiNardo signed 25 high school football players on signing day. Notably absent was Indianapolis (Ben Davis) safety Todd Barnard.

The top prospect in this class is Illinois running back Kenni Burns. Burns is a three-year varsity starter that rushed for 2,000 yards and 20 touchdowns in 2002. Burns has been injury prone but he could be a very solid running back in the future for the Hoosiers.

We liked defensive tackle Joel Stubblefied as soon as we saw him on film last spring. Stubblefield committed to Indiana in the summer saying that he knew that he wanted to play for Gerry DiNardo and the Hoosiers.

Indianapolis (Ben Davis) tight end Brian Faires is coming from an outstanding program and he was a Midwestrecruits.com “Top 30” Indiana prospect in 2002. Ben Davis won yet another state championship this past season and Faires ended up with 20 receptions for 350 yards.

Jonathan Sandberg is the biggest sleeper in this class. Sandberg comes from a very small school in Monon, Indiana (North White) but he packs a big punch on the football field. Sandberg’s best football is a head of him and we wouldn’t be surprised if he was up for Big Ten honors in the future.