I'll throw my $.02 in here. I actually think there is some validity to both sides of the argument in kids wanting to spread their wings and go elsewhere vs. Naperville being a draw. For me, the latter was true. Others, though, really do like to get away, and often to scholarship institutions. NCC punches a little above their weight class when it comes to recruiting, but it sometimes pays off, eventually. Oftentimes, these better home town kids go off to other schools, but find out that the grass isn't greener and come back home. There's a pretty good number of locally grown D1 transfers NCC gets from Tyke Spencer to, more recently, Cam Moore and Conner Joyce. I'm not privy to their methodology, but it happens quite a bit. Having other local kids that these guys played with in high school already on the team helps, I'm sure. As to John Thorne being a name, I'm a bit of a unique case there. I had already made my decision to go to NCC after being recruited by Joe DeGorge. As a dumb high school senior, when he was let go and Thorne was hired, I considered gong elsewhere because I couldn't stand WWS as they and NC had been our (pretty bitter) rivals for the past 4 years. His hiring was actually a deterrent to me. Lenny Ratdtke and Chuck Earnest waited until the 11th hour before deciding on NCC, making the decision only just before camp freshman year, with that among the reasons.
