First offer for Minnesota star
Eden Prairie, Minn., inside linebacker Bryce McNaul is on cloud nine right now. Not only is he getting plenty of attention from the college coaches all over the nation, he picked up his first scholarship offer just the other day.
"Northwestern offered him after this weekend," McNaul's mother, Debbie McNaul, said. "I talked to Greg Colby this morning. They e-mailed him yesterday about the offer and then we called and talked to them about the offer just to be sure.
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"He really had a great time on his visit to the junior day. Randy Walker spent a lot of time with him one-on-one. I think they had around 180 kids up there, and they took only about 10 kids to go up and meet with the head coach. That was a pretty big feeling."
McNaul, who is 6-foot-3 and 235 pounds, has been a hot target ever since he did very well at the U.S. Army All-America Combine back in January. Teams like Boston College, Iowa, Miami, Michigan, Minnesota, Northwestern, Notre Dame, Ohio State, Wisconsin and several others have been in hot pursuit.
"I just talked with Kansas State and he was also about to get an offer from Louisville before that coach left for the NFL," McNaul's mother said. "We're trying to start to kind of narrow it down a little bit. Everybody wants us to go to all the different camps, and it's kind of overwhelming.
"I think we'd like for him to find a nice school and say Ok and get it over with."
McNaul recently received his ACT score back. To go along with a 3.0 grade-point average, he scored a 28 on the test. Combine those marks with his killer instinct on the football field and things are going to be busy during the spring evaluation period.
As a junior McNaul, McNaul recorded 143 tackles, 26 for loss and seven sacks to lead Eden Prairie to a 12-2 record and an appearance in the state semifinals against Cretin-Derham Hall. He also picked off three passes and recovered two fumbles, returning one 25 yards for a touchdown.
"I'm a very good play reader," he told Rivals.com earlier this year. "I'm quick to the ball and I play sideline-to-sideline. I'm very quick to fill the hole and to the point of attack. In college, I know the game will be faster so I still have a lot to work on."