Illinois Football Recruiting Thread

[Dan]

Welcome to the Illinois Football Recruiting Thread

Early Signing Period: Dec. 15th-17th

2022 Illini Football Commits

1) OL Joey Okla (February 5th, 2021)
2) QB Donovan Leary (March 29th, 2021)
3) OL Hunter Whitenack (April 16th, 2021)
4) WR Hank Beatty (April 17th, 2021)
5) OL Clayton Leonard (April 18th, 2021)
6) TE Owen Anderson (April 28th, 2021)
7) TE Henry Boyer (April 29th, 2021)
8) RB Jordan Anderson (April 29th, 2021)
9) LB Malachi Hood (June 7th, 2021)
10) WR Eian Pugh (June 23rd, 2021)
11) WR Ashton Hollins (June 30th, 2021)
12) OL Matt Fries (July 2nd, 2021)
13) LB Jared Badie (July 4th, 2021)
14) RB Aidan Laughery (July 14th, 2021)
15) WR Shawn Miller (July 17th, 2021)
16) DL Terrell Jones (November 8th, 2021)
17) DB TJ Griffin (November 10th, 2021)
18) OL Magnus Møller (November 29th, 2021)
19) DB Elijah Mc-Cantos (November 30th, 2021)

 

[STLflyinIllini]

Jaden Mangham delayed commitment. Was supposed to be yesterday.

 

[Illinifanalways]

Let's hope his delay is going out to buy an orange and blue I hat.

 

[TheDrinkinLincoln]

Let's hope his delay is going out to buy an orange and blue I hat.

Think it has more to do with his Mom's house lost internet/electricity and it would have been hard to have a party/event for his commitment due to that.

 

[Illinifanalways]

After I posted I saw that his home lost electricity.

 

[Chukwuwumba]

Lots of schools mentioned in comments. Typically can get a feel on who’s the leader, but seems pretty even.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1422315863731064838

 

[Ramrod2010]

Lots of schools mentioned in comments. Typically can get a feel on who’s the leader, but seems pretty even.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1422315863731064838

Why was I under the impression that he had already committed and it wasn't Illinois?

 

[TwoElevenEastDaniel]

Lots of schools mentioned in comments. Typically can get a feel on who’s the leader, but seems pretty even.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1422315863731064838

Crystal balls were almost all Sparty. Now, they're almost all Pitt.

 

[STLflyinIllini]

Crystal balls were almost all Sparty. Now, they're almost all Pitt.

yeah I'm pretty sure that Allen Treiu guy has changed his prediction 3 times on there. It was all UK, then MSU, now Pitt.

 

[Chukwuwumba]

yeah I'm pretty sure that Allen Treiu guy has changed his prediction 3 times on there. It was all UK, then MSU, now Pitt.

Those were most of the Twitter comments from fans. Along with Virginia and Illinois. Seems like any of the 5 it could be, but I guess Pitt is the trending pick.

 

[Chukwuwumba]

Why was I under the impression that he had already committed and it wasn't Illinois?

ILL took Fries, then went quiet on here. Likely related?

 

[OffseasonFanatic]

yeah I'm pretty sure that Allen Treiu guy has changed his prediction 3 times on there. It was all UK, then MSU, now Pitt.

explains why 247Sports' CB predictions are not 100%. Dude is all over the place.

I thought Baer was ready to commit almost a month ago? I wonder what the hesitation is on his part.

 

[Joel Goodson]

yeah I'm pretty sure that Allen Treiu guy has changed his prediction 3 times on there. It was all UK, then MSU, now Pitt.

And the end result will be 100% accuracy, lol.

 

[Joel Goodson]

ILL took Fries, then went quiet on here. Likely related?

I read that we went all in on Fries when it became clear that Baer was going elsewhere. Not sure if that's true, but it's certainly very plausible.

 

[Illinifanalways]

That sounds about right concerning Baer. Wish he would have committed after his visit. Some schools came hard after him.

 

[RonC]

Why was I under the impression that he had already committed and it wasn't Illinois?

I was also… or that he eliminated Illinois. Really would’ve loved to get this kid committed.

 

[pvaughn8]

Think it has more to do with his Mom's house lost internet/electricity and it would have been hard to have a party/event for his commitment due to that.

Heavy crystal ball movement to MSU for Mangham. I thought he was a WVU lean. Is this a mysterious flip that coincided with his power outage?

 

[TX Illiniwek]

Ryan Baer just announced.....Pitt. Not surprising.

 

[mhuml32]

I'm cool with not adding another lineman unless it's a star recruit. Find me some defensive backs and d-linemen.

 

[Homecoming 2019]

I'm cool with not adding another lineman unless it's a star recruit. Find me some defensive backs and d-linemen.

Baer would have been the highest rated recruit in our 2022 class, you make room for that level of player.

 

[UCantHideYer]

Whitenack, Okla, Fries going to be future studs. I wouldn’t rule out Clayton Leonard as a serious contributor. We got some “wrasslers” in that crew. I’m good.

 

[Illinifanalways]

Don't forget Brody Wisecraver. I look for him to be starting next year. The O line will be revamped next year with some good young talent.

 

[mhuml32]

Baer would have been the highest rated recruit in our 2022 class, you make room for that level of player.

He’s ranked higher than I remembered. Fair statement. I always believed the Fries decision meant that either Illinois knew they weren’t getting Baer, liked Fries better, or some combination of both.

 

[IllinoisssssssVarsity]

Baer would have been the highest rated recruit in our 2022 class, you make room for that level of player.

Isn’t our class consisted of mostly thoroughly average recruits though? A good player is going to be higher than everybody in our class. At that point the question becomes, is he THAT much better than everybody in the class that you make room for him at an already crowded position?

I’m not here to argue one way or the other cause I don’t know what goes into football talent evaluation. Just saying we have recruited some good pieces, but we’re not hitting grand slams based on rankings.

 

[STLflyinIllini]

Isn’t our class consisted of mostly thoroughly average recruits though? A good player is going to be higher than everybody in our class. At that point the question becomes, is he THAT much better than everybody in the class that you make room for him at an already crowded position?

I’m not here to argue one way or the other cause I don’t know what goes into football talent evaluation. Just saying we have recruited some good pieces, but we’re not hitting grand slams based on rankings.

I'm no talent evaluator either, but based on the offer list compared to our OL commits, it's really no contest. I would be pretty surprised if our staff didn't take him if he wanted to come.