Three-Star 2027 Linebacker Will Visit Northwestern During 2025 Season

The 'Cats continue to schedule visits for this fall.

Jul 23, 2025; Las Vegas, NV, USA; Northwestern head coach David Braun speaks to the media during the Big Ten NCAA college football media days at Mandalay Bay Resort. Mandatory Credit: Lucas Peltier-Imagn Images | Lucas Peltier-Imagn Images

The football season is almost upon us as the 'Cats will kick off their season against Tulane in under three weeks. That means the focus will finally shift away from what's going on behind the scenes and on to actual on-field action.

But that doesn't mean recruiting stops. The 'Cats have likely mostly finalized their 2026 class (although in today's landscape the team will still look far different after the transfer portal). However, David Braun and co. are now hard at work beginning to secure recruits in the 2027 class.

One of those players is three-star linebacker Blake Betton. Rivals reporter Greg Smith reported on X today that the Minnesota native will be visiting Northwestern this fall.

A busy schedule of Big Ten and Big 12 visits awaits rising 2027 LB Blake Betton. He spoke with @Rivals about the list and gave the latest in his recruitment.

🔗 https://t.co/9X2UuXqj2G pic.twitter.com/RXDW2bD9GI

— Greg Smith (@GregSmithRivals) August 11, 2025

According to the article linked in the post, Betton is visiting campus for the Oregon game on September 13. It's an interesting visit decision from Northwestern's staff seeing as the Ducks are likely to beat the Wildcats, and it might not be pretty.

But Betton has a bit of a packed schedule. He's also taking visits to Iowa State, Michigan, Minnesota and Iowa before the end of October. The article also says he's looking to set up visits with Illinois and Missouri.

In addition to those schools, 247Sports says Betton has received offers from Vanderbilt and North Dakota State. His home-state school, Minnesota, has submitted an offer.

That's a lot of high-level competition Northwestern will have to take on if it wants to earn Betton's services, but, outside of Michigan, there aren't any true "blue bloods" on the list. He's not "un-gettable" for Braun if everything goes right.

“My ultimate goal is to find a home where I can work hard and get an awesome education. Be coached up by the best so I can contribute to a National Championship contender and make it to the NFL," Betton said in the article.

That's not necessarily Northwestern, but the "awesome education" piece stands out as something the school can try to leverage.

Even so, Smith says he's focused on Michigan and Minnesota in Betton's recruiting process. The former apparently "blew Betton away" with their offer, and the latter will always have a leg up since he's from Minnesota.

Standing at 6-foot-2 with a weight of 200 pounds, Betton is well on his way to Big Ten size with time remaining in his high school career to get even bigger. He currently plays at Shakopee High School.