Springfield (Ill.) Sacred Heart Griffin junior offensive tackle recruit Cian Mahoney (6-foot-6, 265 pounds) decided to wrap up his recruiting process and gave the staff at Northern Illinois University a phone call and gave the Huskies his verbal commitment. Mahoney, who is now the fourth known verbal commitment to NIU and the second in-state pledge breaks down his college decision here.

"NIU has always felt like home to me and that was one of the big factors which led to my decision," Mahoney said. "The coaches at NIU are great people and I just did not want to wait any longer. I didn't want to hold out and maybe be the third guy for a Big Ten school. Instead I'm going to a school who really has a plan for me and I'm just very excited about my decision."

Mahoney pointed towards some of the key factors in his decision to pledge to NIU.

"NIU really recruited me hard and always made me feel like I was a priority for them. The NIU coaches always stayed in contact with me along with just getting to know me and my family better. NIU is planning to take just two kids at my position (left offensive tackle) and I did not want to miss out on a great opportunity at NIU. NIU is also pretty close to home but also not too close so it works out really well for my family and friends. NIU is also moving to a new conference the Mountain West Conference starting in 2026 and they will face some great competition in the new conference. NIU is also a strong school academically and they have a great business schools. I'm lookin g hard at majoring in Business so it's also a great fit academically as well as on the field."

So which other schools did Mahoney consider before committing to NIU?

"I was drawing a lot of new interest from several other MAC schools along with Purdue, Northwestern plus West Virginia. Those schools all had different levels of interest but not to the level of NIU."

So how does it feel to have his college recruiting process completed already this winter?

"It's just a great feeling to have committed and to just get my recruiting process sone and out of the way. It was really important to me to make a decision before the start of the summer. I can focus now strictly on school and also on my team and my 2025 season. The goal is to win a state title next season and I can put my full time and effort into getting ready for the season."

Cian Mahoney is now the fourth known verbal commitment to Northern Illinois University Class of 2026 as well as the second known in state pledge. Mahoney now joins Hillcrest three star rankled DE Max Carmicle in the NIU Huskies in state Class of 2026.