LB Rutherford adds his first offer

Peoria (Ill.) junior outside linebacker recruit Gary Rutherford (6-foot-3, 200 pounds)was able to add his first scholarship offer recently from in-state Western Illinois University. Rutherford checks in and break down his latest football recruiting news in this update.

"The offer from Western Illinois was a surprise and it pretty much came out of nowhere," Rutherford said. "I knew that my coach (Tim Thornton) had been talking to the WIU coaches but all of a sudden they asked me to call and that's when they offered me a scholarship."

Rutherford discussed his initial impressions from adding his first scholarship offer from Western Illinois.

"I went and made a visit to WIU last spring and it's a nice school. I like how Western Illinois has basically reset the football program and that they have a new staff that's working to turn the football program around. WIU liked me as a linebacker and they also want me to come back for a visit this spring and to also camp with them this summer."

So which schools have started to show recruiting attention in Rutherford so far this winter?

"I made a Junior Day visit to Indiana State and they seem interested a long with the coaches from Illinois State, SEMO, Illinois, Central Michigan, NIU, Northwest Missouri (D2) and some other schools. We saw a lot of college coaches in school back in January and they are also suppose to be back here in the spring,"

Rutherford also broke down his recent Indiana State Junior Day visit.

"I went to Indiana State a few weeks ago for a Junior Day visit and it was my first time there. It's a smaller school but it's also really nice. Indiana State has good coaches and I was impressed at how high the team overall grade point average is at Indiana State (3.2). The coaches at Indiana State have great energy and they said that they like my game and want to see me in a camp this summer. They also invited me to come back for a spring practice."

Rutherford also looked back at his 2022 junior season and discussed what part of his game was strong and what he's working to improve upon this off season.

"Overall I felt pretty good about my game and how I played. I was able to make some good reads and I reacted much better than the year before. We also had a strong season and just missed winning a state title. I definitely want to get better getting downhill along with improving my tackling plus work on improving my lateral speed and my start and stop."

Gary Rutherford has a scholarship offer from Western Illinois University.