The Pat Fitzgerald hazing scandal has now reportedly lost Northwestern its top-rated recruit.
Per On3 Sports, Wildcats freshman Nigel Glover, a four-star linebacker out of Ohio, has decided to enter the transfer portal and is the first to do so following the coach’s firing.
Glover chose Northwestern over several Big Ten schools including Iowa and Illinois back in April of 2022. He also received offers from the likes of Duke, Indiana, Kentucky and a number of other Power-5 schools.
BREAKING: Northwestern freshman LB Nigel Glover has entered the NCAA Transfer Portal, per @mzenitz.
The 4-star recruit was the highest-rated player in the Wildcats’ 2023 recruiting class👀https://t.co/bUidi5mKHE pic.twitter.com/DZ5CuwLzcL
— On3 (@On3sports) July 17, 2023
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With the college football season not far out, NU decided to promote defensive coordinator David Braun to interim head coach after reassessing Fitzgerald’s initial two-week suspension and ultimately letting him go.
The school’s investigation reportedly did not find evidence that Fitzgerald knew of the problems. But as the overseer of a football program with a salary of roughly $5 million per year, university president Michael Schill felt it was the coach’s job to know.
Northwestern opens the season Sept. 3 against Rutgers, with preseason practices set to begin over the next few weeks.