Northwestern’s recruiting class shuffled before Signing Day

Grant Perry is a three-star wide receiver who committed to Northwestern’s class of 2015 back in December. After a scintillant senior season that earned him All-American designations by the recruiting site Scout.com, he was expected to anchor a group of four new Wildcat wideouts at Wednesday’s Signing Day.

Grant Perry is also a kid from Michigan. When Jim Harbaugh and the Wolverines made an offer Monday, the Bloomfield, Mich. product decommitted from the Wildcats just two days before he was supposed to sign his letter of intent.

Northwestern lost defensive end Zach Allen to a decommitment as well on Saturday. Allen, a Connecticut native, committed to Boston College. The program had four decommits last year.

The Wildcats countered with some poaching of their own, though. Three-star Lemont, Ill., receiver Flynn Nagel flipped from Duke to Northwestern when he received an offer Monday. Nagel’s older brothers Brett and Aaron both played for the school. NU also added two-star cornerback Montre Hartage from Cordele, Ga., presumably to fill Allen’s absence on the defensive side.

The program still has 20 commits in the class of 2015, though for the second straight year, that number is vacillating in the days leading up to Signing Day.

Pat Fitzgerald will officially welcome his commit class Wednesday at Ditka’s Restaurant. Jordan Thompson, a defensive lineman from Cincinnati who was given a four-star ranking by Scout, headlines the group.