Oak Park’s David Dougherty heads the list of Huskie recruits signed by head coach Jerry Pettibone and his staff Wednesday.

The 6-foot-3, 190-pound receiver ranked 14th in the Chicago area with 33 receptions for 651 yards and nine touchdowns in 1987. He was also named to the Chicago Tribune and Chicago Sun-Times All-State teams.

“He’s one of the top-10 players in the state,” said Pettibone, who also called Dougherty a “blue-chipper that compares to Nebraska All-America Irving Fryar.”

Pettibone should know. He recruited Fryar for the Cornhuskers in 1980.

“I’m not sure if he’ll be able to play his first year,” Pettibone said. “We’ve got quite a bit of experience coming back with Mark Clancy and Keith Cassidy, plus we’re moving Drake Shead to receiver, which is his natural position.”

Dougherty’s high school coach, Gary Olson, said he does not feel his star player will be lost in the Huskies’ run-oriented wishbone offense.

“He’ll put some pressure on the corners,” Olson said. “If they try to cover him man-to-man, he’ll get open. If they try to double-team him, that’ll open up everything else in the wishbone.”

Dougherty said he would rather play than be red-shirted his freshman year.

“They (the coaches) told me if I did well that I would play,” Dougherty said. “They’ve also talked about using me returning punts and kickoffs.”

NIU had one of the nation’s leading punt returners in Rodney Taylor last year but could use some help in the other area. Dougherty averaged 37.3 yards per kickoff return as a senior.