Northwestern lands local 6-7 DE Sean McLaughlin

In the end, Sean McLaughlin's commitment to Northwestern just made too much sense not to happen.

The three-star defensive end's grandfather, Joe Deegan, played for Ara Parseghian at Northwestern in 1960. McLaughlin went to countless Wildcat games as a child. He goes to Frankfort (Ill.) Lincoln Way East in the Chicago area. He even has a 4.4 GPA and hopes to become a doctor.

All of those factors played a role in McLaughlin's decision to commit to Wildcat head coach Pat Fitzgerald on Friday.

McLaughlin, a 6-foot-7, 230-pounder, has ideal size for a defensive end. He is a good enough athlete to play center on Lincoln Way's basketball team, and he is also a college pitching prospect with a high-80s fastball.

He drew 18 football offers in all, including six from Big Ten schools. Iowa, where his older brother Jake is a junior baseball player, finished as the runner up.

McLaughlin took his only official visit to Northwestern on the May 17 weekend, when the Wildcats hosted nine 2020 commits and seven prime prospects. He is the first visitor in that group to commit to the program.

McLaughlin, who would also like to play baseball in college, is the 11th member of Northwestern's Class of 2020, and its first defensive end. He comes from the same high school program that produced Northwestern redshirt freshman defensive end Devin O'Rourke.

The Wildcats' 2020 class is currently ranked 19th in the country by Rivals.

More to come from WildcatReport...