Time to get into 2011 recruiting mode and what better way to do it than with a homegrown North Dakota kid.
Carson Wentz is a 6’5″ 205 lb QB recruit from Bismarck Century High School. He was recently named 2010 North Dakota Senior Player of the Year in football and led his team to the semi-finals at state where they lost a 22-21 heart-breaker to eventual state champion Fargo South.
Interest in Wentz has really peaked recently. Our sources in Bismarck indicate that a number of schools have shown interest including UND, SDSU, Southern Illinois and MAC school and FBS member Central Michigan. This is a lot of attention for a North Dakota QB, the likes of which probably haven’t been seen since the recruitment of Brooks Bollinger from Grand Forks Central in 1998. We all know where he ended up. Wentz isn’t being recruited by the BCS schools like Bollinger was, but you get the point.
Some might ask why SIU would be interested in a ND QB given all the fertile recruiting grounds and talent that SIU has in their immediate area. SIU defensive coordinator Bubba Schweigert’s brother, Kent Schweigert, is a coach on the Century Football staff so we are guessing that is why there is interest from Carbondale.
Central Michigan’s interest is a bit of mystery for the aforementioned reason. The only connection there that we can gather is former NDSU coach Kyle Nystrom is now a coach for Central Michigan. He might still have some connections in North Dakota from his time in Fargo.
This could be a tough battle for UND to land Wentz, given the competition they are up against. We will see what kind of influence finally having a conference has.  At least that cannot be used against them anymore like it has for the last 4 years.
Wentz is the type of kid you want and need on your team. A big, tall, rangy, athletic QB who already has a pretty good throwing motion and is from North Dakota. As shown in his youtube highlights, he can hurt you with his arm or legs. He also carries himself well in the classroom with a 4.0 GPA and 29 ACT score.
If UND can eventually land Wentz on signing day in February, it would be considered a huge recruiting win.
