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Northwestern beats 19 programs for commitment from in-state OL

Dustin Schutte

By Dustin Schutte

Published:

Anthony Birsa had a lot of suitors on the recruiting trail, but Northwestern won the battle.

The Joliet, Ill. native and 3-star offensive lineman announced his commitment to Northwestern on Friday night. He becomes the fourth prospect in the 2023 recruiting class to verbally pledge to the Wildcats and is the third in-state recruit.

Birsa had offers from a total of 20 programs. He picked Northwestern over Duke, Indiana, Iowa State, Minnesota, Rutgers, Syracuse and Vanderbilt at the Power 5 level. The lineman also had multiple Group of 5 offers.

A total of 20 programs extended an offer to Birsa.

“To my Joliet Catholic family, thank you for helping me become a better person, player and student,” Birsa wrote on Twitter. “With that being said, I am so grateful and excited to announce my commit(ment) to Northwestern University! I can’t wait to be a part of the Northwestern Football Family!”

Per 247Sports, Birsa is listed as a 6-foot-5, 270-pound interior offensive line. While he doesn’t have any composite scores at this time, 247Sports ranks him as the No. 50 interior offensive lineman and No. 16 prospect out of Illinois for the 2023 class.

Still early in the recruiting process, Northwestern’s 4-person class currently ranks No. 7 in the B1G and No. 23 nationally.

Dustin Schutte

Dustin grew up in the heart of Big Ten country and has been in sports media since 2010. He has been covering Big Ten football since 2014. You can follow him on Twitter: @SchutteCFB