I could say a lot of bad things about Randy Walker today.

I could tell you today is college football’s perpetually hope-filled signing day – where Walker’s Wildcats will ink up to 20 high school seniors to National Letters of Intent – but in Evanston, today isn’t filled with much hope.

I could say that as of Tuesday night recruiting database extraordinaire Rivals.com lists 17 verbal commitments to Northwestern – and only four of them are three-star prospects in Rivals’ five-star system (NU signed 10 three-star players last season).

And In the end I could declare the 76th-ranked class of 2006 pretty bad, even if Walker pulls a hot prospect or two out of his hat at tonight’s news conference.

But I’m not going to. Because in Randy I trust.

Sure, it’s hard to trust the coach after he, recruiting coordinator/linebackers coach Pat Fitzgerald and the rest of his staff appear to have wasted a golden opportunity.

The Cats won seven games last season. They tied for third in the Big Ten. They made it all the way to the Sun Bowl in El Paso, Texas, probably the most recognizable bowl game this side of New Year’s Day.

And they still couldn’t bring big-time recruits aboard. While football juggernauts like Rutgers and Duke received verbals from numerous three-star-and-up players, Walker and his staff were busy beating out the likes of Wagner and Bucknell for a number of their future stars (some of whom weren’t even recognized as prospects by Rivals before accepting NU’s offer) – all despite NU’s 2005 success.

But here’s the real question: How did they achieve that success?

The answer: By doing what Walker appears to be doing in 2006 – recruiting anonymous prospects and turning them into solid players who fit his system.

Check out the recruiting classes of 2002 and 2003, both of which helped propel NU to its third bowl in Walker’s six-year tenure:

In 2003 Walker pulled eight Rivals.com three-star recruits. Only two – cornerback Deante Battle and linebacker Adam Kadela – started games during the Cats’ Sun Bowl run. Meanwhile, Walker’s batch of two-star recruits produced eight starters, including linebacker Nick Roach.

And then there was 2002.

That year Walker signed his biggest name yet – defensive end Loren Howard, a Scottsdale, Ariz., native and four-star prospect – and brought in five three-star players to boot. But Howard got hurt and defected to Arizona State, while only one three-star player, stud defensive tackle Barry Cofield, suited up for the Cats this season.

Their less-hyped counterparts from that class? Nobody special. Just NU’s all-time leading tackler, linebacker Tim McGarigle, wide receivers Shaun Herbert and Mark Philmore (134 catches, 1,524 yards and 12 touchdowns between them in 2005), and a host of other starters.

So much for all those Rivals.com ratings.

Sure, after last year’s 52nd-ranked class, it appeared Walker was reversing NU’s stigma as one of college football’s recruiting black holes. But if 2005 is any indicator, NU can stay in that black hole and still survive.

The coach just orchestrated the Cats’ first string of three-straight six-win seasons since before the Depression.

As bad as his recruits may look on paper, Randy Walker knows what he’s doing.

Assistant sports editor Patrick Dorsey is a Medill junior. He can be reached at [email protected].