Mineola’s Austin Anderson Picks Up Big Ten Offer From Northwestern

National Signing Day for the 2015 class was Wednesday, but it was also a big day for an East Texas prospect in next year's class.

Mineola junior offensive lineman Austin Anderson received his second Division I FBS offer in as many days Wednesday night, tweeting that he picked up an offer from the Big Ten Conference's Northwestern Wildcats.

Anderson (6-4, 280) now has two offers to his name after hearing from Tulsa on Tuesday. The Yellowjackets' lineman will have to wait a full calendar year before making it official by signing, but he'll have ample opportunities to pick up even more offers before that time comes.

Austin Anderson, along with his twin brother and fellow offensive lineman Riley Anderson, was offered by Tulsa on Tuesday, and each sibling figures to see plenty of recruiting activity over the coming months.

The new Northwestern target was named to the 2014 ETSN.fm East Texas Football Super Team’s first team earlier this week after grading out at 96 percent with 118 pancakes in helping lead Mineola to a 12-4 season and the school's first-ever berth in a state championship game.

Northwestern, coached by Pat Fitzgerald, is one of the nation's premier academic institutions. The Wildcats are coming off a 5-7 season in 2014, which also included a 3-5 mark in Big Ten play.

Austin Anderson is the first East Texas player in the 2016 class to be offered by Northwestern, and only the second with an offer from the Big Ten. Nacogdoches safety Brandon Jones, widely regarded as one of the nation's best as his position in the class, has multiple Big Ten offers.

The Mineola lineman blocked for a group of exclusively underclassmen runners and helped the run-heavy Yellowjackets offense amass 4,465 rushing yards and 53 touchdowns in 2014.

The 'Jackets will be a team to watch next season. Graduation will hurt its outstanding defensive front, but the team returns virtually all its offensive skill players and its secondary in addition to the Anderson twins.

2016 East Texas Football Players With Division I FBS Offers

Austin Anderson, OL, Mineola, 6-4, 280 – offers from Northwestern, Tulsa (2)
Riley Anderson, OL, Mineola, 6-5, 285 – offer from Tulsa (1)
Demarco Boyd, RB/LB, Gilmer, 6-0, 215 — committed to Texas; additional offers from Baylor, Florida State, Texas A&M (4)
Zach Hall, ATH, Tyler Lee, 5-11, 170 – offer from Texas Tech (1)
Travon Fuller, CB, Athens, 6-0, 160 — committed to Texas A&M (1)
Brandon Jones, S, Nacogdoches, 6-0, 190 — offers from Alabama, Arizona State, Arkansas, Baylor, Florida State, Georgia, Houston, Kentucky, Louisiana Tech, Louisville, LSU, Maryland, Miami, Michigan, Michigan State, Mississippi State, Nebraska, Notre Dame, Ohio State, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Ole Miss, Penn State, Purdue, SMU, Stanford, TCU, Tennessee, Texas, Texas A&M, Texas Tech, Tulsa, USC, Washington State (34)
Braylon Jones, DT, John Tyler, 6-3, 275 – offers from Air Force, Navy (2)
Corey Lane, S, Nacogdoches, 5-11, 185 – offer from Louisiana Tech (1)
Kendrick Rogers, WR, Frankston, 6-4, 185 — offer from North Texas, SMU (2)

Filed Under: Mineola

Categories: Class 3A, Football, News, Recruiting