Northern Illinois received a verbal commitment Wednesday from O'Fallon High outside linebacker Mike Cotton, a three-star recruit who decommitted two weeks ago from Indiana University.
O'Fallon coach Brandon Joggerst said Cotton is a "high-impact" player who stands 6-foot-2, 225 pounds with room to grow, giving the Huskies options on how to use him.
"He's a big, physical linebacker who can run," Joggerst said. "He's kind of a hybrid-type kid. He could be a rush end. He could be whatever they need him to be.
"I think they're getting a high-impact player who can fit in right away."
Joggerst said Cotton decommitted after his recruiting coach left IU before Christmas, and Cotton lost contact with the school. Cotton committed to IU in June, and has scholarship offers from Kansas State and Arizona State.
Decommitting late in the recruiting period presented plenty of nerves, Joggerst said, but he knew there would be a place for Cotton.
"I told him, 'Don't get caught up in the name, just find a place where you feel comfortable, and you feel you can go to school at, and you feel good around the coaches,' " Joggerst said. "He had a lot bigger offers, but at the end of the day I think Northern did a good job of communicating with him and making him one of their top priorities.
