Football: National champ St. Xavier lands several Joliet-area recruits

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Austin Feeney, of Morris, will be attending St. Xavier in the fall. | File photo

Updated: March 4, 2012 8:14AM

In some ways, winning a national title has made recruiting easier for St. Xavier football coach Mike Feminis.

“I think it did,” he said, “from the standpoint of awareness.”

In others, St. Xavier’s run to its win in the Dec. 17 NAIA title game made reloading tougher.

“We got a late start,” the American Football Coaches Association Coach of the Year said.

So Feminis did what he’s always done, concentrating on the talent he knows best. To a large degree, those players hail from Joliet-area schools.

Of the first five recruits St. Xavier announced during Wednesday’s National Letter of Intent signing day, four came from the Joliet area, which Feminis scoured as an eight-year assistant to Gordie Gillespie at St. Francis — where he flourished as a player, as well.

The fifth, quarterback John Rhode, began his career at Marian Catholic, Feminis’ alma mater, before transferring to and winning a state title at Montini.

St. Xavier’s local haul includes Morris running back/receiver Austin Feeney. Joliet Catholic offensive lineman Jake Jankowski, and defensive linemen Nick Cemeno, of Providence, and Alex Hamilton, of Minooka.

“The thing about the Joliet area, I played my college ball at St. Francis for Gordie, I was the defensive coordinator there until 1998,” Feminis said. “I developed a lot of great relationships there, and I know how good the football is. I want to get as many guys from Joliet Catholic, Providence, Minooka, Morris and the Lincoln-Ways as I can.”

Feeney was a quarterback at Morris, but Feminis has other plans for him at SXU.

“As of right now, we think he can help us sooner than later as a running back or slot receiver, but eventually doing some things as a Wildcat quarterback, too,” Feminis said. “Jake really fills a need for us at the tackle position. ... Nick and Alex are two future starters on the defensive line.”