Northwestern put the finishing touches on its 2026 high school recruiting class Wednesday for National Signing Day, adding former Toledo signee cornerback Nate Dawson and two offensive linemen, Angelo De Sensi and Quinn Wicklow.
The Wildcats signed 21 players during December’s early signing period, the program’s largest recruiting class since 2003. NU’s class spans 11 different states, including six from Illinois.
Dawson, a cornerback from Winton Woods High School in Cincinnati, Ohio, is rated as a three-star recruit by 247Sports, ESPN and Rivals. He is ESPN’s 104th-ranked cornerback nationally and 52nd-ranked player in Ohio.
After former Toledo coach Jason Candle accepted the same position at UConn, Dawson was released from his letter of intent, allowing him to commit to the ’Cats on Jan. 12. The 6-foot-2, 190-pound cornerback also held a Power Four offer from West Virginia.
Coach David Braun spoke with reporters Wednesday and emphasized the improvements NU has made over the last few years.
“(One stride was) our ability to go out and sign a great high school class with the addition of Nate Dawson here today in the late signing period, and bringing in a great class of transfers,” Braun said.
De Sensi, who attends nearby Montini Catholic, committed to the ’Cats on Monday before officially signing Wednesday. He signed as a preferred walk-on, a non-scholarship player.
The Lombard, Illinois native is one of NU’s eight incoming recruits on the offensive line, the most of any position group. The ’Cats also picked up six transfers in the trenches to help replace four linemen who departed in the transfer portal.
Wicklow, a 6-foot-7, 260-pound lineman from Portland, Oregon, committed and signed Wednesday as a preferred walk-on.
247Sports four-star receiver Jaden McDuffie and four-star offensive lineman Owen Fors headline Braun’s highest-rated class ever, which is ranked 55th in the country and 14th in the Big Ten by Rivals.
McDuffie will be one of only two new wide receivers next year, as the ’Cats did not add any transfer receivers. Fors is one of NU’s ten early enrollees already on campus after signing in December, with the rest of the high school class expected to arrive in Evanston in June.
Dawson joins three-star cornerback Jaden Vaughn and three-star safety Gabe Davis-Ray as NU’s signees in the secondary.
Along with its high school recruiting class, the ’Cats signed 16 transfers this offseason, marking the highest-ranked transfer class in program history.
NU’s 2026 class is its first group recruited by general manager Christian Sarkisian, who joined the program in May 2025.
The ’Cats lost three starters to the transfer portal in the offseason and returned 27 players with 100-plus snaps played in 2025. Braun credits Sarkisian as a key player in acquiring and retaining roster talent.
“The work that that group has put in through the month of January has been so impressive,” Braun said. “College football has been completely flipped on its head. This is a brand new world that has different demands.”
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