Glendora's Brus Officially Signs With Northwestern

EVANSTON, IL —Football star Braydon Brus, a senior from Glendora High School, signed his National Letter of Intent to attend Northwestern University last Wednesday during the NCAA's early-signing period.

Brus, a 6-foot-1, 205-pound linebacker had committed to play for the Big Ten's Wildcats last summer.

Ranked the No. 49 overall recruit in California and No. 4 athlete in the country, according to 247Sports, Brus chose Northwestern over Power 5 schools including: California, Arizona, Boston College, Colorado, Michigan State, UCLA and Washington State, according to Wildcats Daily.

Northwestern's football welcomed Brus to the program with a tweet that read: Cali kid to Big Ten LB. Can't wait to watch Braydon Brus as a Wildcat."

Meanwhile, Xander Mueller, a sophomore linebacker Northwestern, introduced Brus in a video on social media.

"Our next great linebacker comes from California," Mueller said. "An explosive, versatile player on both sides of the ball, with great instincts. From Glendora High School ... Braydon Brus. Welcome to the family!"

This past fall, Brus had 125 tackles, including 22 tackles for loss, and three sacks for a Glendora team that went 11-1 —a perfect 10-0 during the regular season — eventually losing to Apple Valley in the CIF-Southern Section Division 3 quarterfinals.

Brus also was the team's leading rusher, gaining 730 yards and scoring 14 touchdowns during the regular season.

Brus told Wildcats Daily last summer there were three main reasons he was sold on Northwestern: academics, team personality and coaching stability.

"The first, being just how great of an academic school Northwestern is ... that's huge," Brus said. "I really love the players, I feel like I really fit in with the guys they have there. It's a very blue-collar attitude, which is something I really appreciate.

"It's also the coaching stability. Those coaches are not going anywhere. They bleed purple. Having a head coach (Pat Fitzgerald) and a linebackers coach (Tim McGarigle) that played for the school and really just bleed purple, love the school and love the history of it, that's really important to me. Knowing that they're going to be there the whole time, that's really important, too."

Evaluating Brus on Wildcats Daily, Lauren Withrow and Jack Murray wrote that Brus uses his big frame to deliver "punishing hits to opponents."

"His tackling technique is one of his best features as he is able to consistently take the ball carrier head on and drive them into the ground," Withrow and Murray wrote. "He also notably played running back in high school as well, and played the position like a linebacker, consistently embracing contact and trying to go through opponents as opposed to going around them."

Northwestern struggled during the 2021 season, going just 3-9 overall and 1-8 in the Big Ten. But a year earlier, the Wildcats were 7-2 —in a COVID-shortened season —winning the Big Ten West Division title and defeating Auburn in the Citrus Bowl.

This article originally appeared on the Glendora Patch