Despite this being the final season for senior running back Michael Turner, NIU might have one of the best offenses in the country in the next few years, Huskies wide receiver Shatone Powers said.

On Thursday, NIU received a verbal commitment from Riverside-Brookfield High School quarterback Britt Davis, who is rated as one of the top players in the state.

Rivals.com, a national recruiting Web site, states the 6-foot-3, 185-pound Davis is “deemed to have pro potential and ability to make an impact on a college team.” He also runs a 4.35 40-yard dash, quicker than any current NIU players.

Britt’s brother Brandon is a freshman tight end at NIU, and will redshirt this year after after hernia surgery.

“I’m really happy he committed and I think this is the best fit for him,” Brandon said. “But I didn’t say any of that to him.”

Brandon took a backseat in Britt’s recruiting process, saying he wanted Britt to find the place he liked the best and didn’t want to influence his decision.

“I’ve always been pretty comfortable with Northern,” said Britt, who passed up schools such as New Mexico, Indiana, Toledo and Bowling Green. “And being ranked 12th, that did influence it a lot.”

Last year, Britt passed for 3,029 yards and 39 touchdowns, while rushing for 819 yards and 12 touchdowns.

This year, Riverside-Brookfield is 6-2 in the Suburban Prairie East Conference. Britt is the focal point of the Bulldogs offense, which uses a five-receiver set where every play is either a pass or a quarterback draw.

“I think he’s the state’s best player,” R-B coach Otto Zeman said earlier in the year. “I don’t know how anyone could add more value to their team as he does to ours.”

Along with his brother, Britt will have another familiar player to pass to in NIU sophomore Shatone Powers. Powers lives three houses down from Davis.

“I just told him it would be cool if he would come here with his brother and me and basically we can be future stars at Northern,” said Powers, who broke Illinois’ single-season high school record for catches with 117 in 2001.

Powers said he grew up with Britt playing for the Pop Warner Maywood Bucs football team in grade school. Brandon was always in a higher weight division, Powers said.

To celebrate his commitment, Britt spent the weekend at NIU. After the Western Michigan win, Britt and Brandon went to some parties on campus and spent the night at Powers’ Fotis Drive apartment.

“I had a really fun night and I enjoyed myself,” Britt said. “We went to the Huskie Den and played pool, then went to a few parties.”

NIU coaches cannot comment on recruits until they sign a national letter of intent.

With current NIU quarterback Josh Haldi a senior next year, Britt said he will redshirt his first season.

In 2005, Britt’s first year of eligibility, Powers, fellow wide receiver Sam Hurd and Turner’s backup, A.J. Harris, all will be seniors.

“We could be really good, and the sky is the limit for us to have one of the best offenses in the nation,” Powers said. “And with Britt, we will be that much better with him.

“I think he would be a really good quarterback because he’s mobile and he can throw the ball, too, so that would be a double threat.”

NIU coach Joe Novak said the team’s success helps in recruiting.

“Usually we have one or two commitments at this time of year, now we have eight,” he said. “Sometimes now the recruits know more about us than we do, and that’s great. You just hope that it will continue.”