Illinois Football Recruiting Thread

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#101      
mhuml32
the juiceman cometh said:
Looking at 247 a little further, it looks to me like Selah Brown is the only outstanding recruit we have a legitimate chance at who would raise our average rating. Unless I'm missing some people, our current commits rise in the ratings, or there are some big surprises come signing day, I think it's likely the average rating will end up right around where it has the last couple years under Lovie.

I'm not saying that's bad. Ratings aren't the whole story. And BB doesn't really have a winning program or a ton of playing time to sell at this point. I think from an expectations standpoint, BB isn't the Zook type who is going to recruit his way to wins. Some on-the-field signs of improvement are going to have to come first, and the recruiting is going to have to follow.
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1. Jalil Martin is an option that would raise Illinois' rating. 247 has him at a 85. Rivals has him at 5.6 and above Badie. ESPN doesn't have him ranked but he has plenty of offers (i.e., Tennessee, Nebraska, MSU, Ole Miss, Mizzou, TAMU). He doesn't have a composite score yet but he'll have a solid score when it's posted. He's a guy that would fill a need in the secondary and help soften the blow of losing Brown. I'm sure BB and the staff also see the potential of getting a 10th in-state recruit and surpassing any previous recruiting class in a long long time.
2. The staff is going to be waiting for late bloomers and transfers at this point (besides a couple targets). 247 doesn't rank transfers now within the class but it does use their individual rankings in assessing the roster talent. The late bloomers could be especially important for this class with the impact of COVID. Every program would be wise to hold onto a couple of scholarships and see who impresses this fall. Could be the best opportunity to get a top-10 ranked in-state prospect.
3. I'll be surprised if the staff is able to maintain or improve on their current ranking, especially the 9th in Big Ten. The formula for doing that would be grabbing a really good late bloomer, having 1-2 current commits get a strong bump in the rankings based on their fall performance, and winning enough games to make a bowl and carry some optimism into the end of the recruiting cycle.
 
#102      
illinoistradition
The biggest thing I see with this recruiting class is that even some of the lowest commits chose Illinois over another P5 program. That is a huge change from past classes under Lovie, Beckman, and even some of the late ones under Zook. We have won some big battles against rival programs that we just flat out have not beaten for many recruits in the recent past. That has me optimistic.
 
#104      
UCantHideYer
Thanks all for working up all the numbers. Very revealing indeed. I'm going to second that applause of the recruiting battles won over P5's. Then drink the kool-aid and say as long as within the top 1416....alright with me. Best guys to develop are the ones with the chips on their shoulders for being ranked too low. Plus less ego to stroke. Give me that win over Nebby this weekend and I'll really drink it up.
 
#107      
EyeoftheIllini
Just read on 247 that Illini expect around 40 prospects for Saturday’s game, including 8 from 2022 who have already committed. Also that because of the week 0 game, Illini can start contacting juniors at midnight Friday, a week before most teams. BB said he jumped on having the 2022 opener against Wyoming in week 0, so they could have the same benefit.
 
#108      
mhuml32
EyeoftheIllini said:
Just read on 247 that Illini expect around 40 prospects for Saturday’s game, including 8 from 2022 who have already committed. Also that because of the week 0 game, Illini can start contacting juniors at midnight Friday, a week before most teams. BB said he jumped on having the 2022 opener against Wyoming in week 0, so they could have the same benefit.
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Werner has posted a few names of recruits that will be there. Feagin (top priority in 2023), Tyler Gant (2023 DT from STL), and Tony Phillips (2024 from Kankakee).
 
#109      
OffseasonFanatic
EyeoftheIllini said:
Just read on 247 that Illini expect around 40 prospects for Saturday’s game, including 8 from 2022 who have already committed. Also that because of the week 0 game, Illini can start contacting juniors at midnight Friday, a week before most teams. BB said he jumped on having the 2022 opener against Wyoming in week 0, so they could have the same benefit.
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Definitely doesn't hurt with recruiting but it also puts national spotlight on our team as most do not play Week 0 and earlier start to summer camps for the players.
 
#110      
mhuml32
I like the spotlight of playing Nebraska in week 0. Not sure I feel the same about playing a team like Wyoming in the same scenario.
 
#111      
OffseasonFanatic
mhuml32 said:
I like the spotlight of playing Nebraska in week 0. Not sure I feel the same about playing a team like Wyoming in the same scenario.
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I don't see this as a negative. I think having Wyoming on schedule, especially as an away game, can help with recruiting in that area and I would think easy win? (knock on wood).
 
#112      
TheDrinkinLincoln
OffseasonFanatic said:
I don't see this as a negative. I think having Wyoming on schedule, especially as an away game, can help with recruiting in that area and I would think easy win? (knock on wood).
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Might not necessarily be an easy win. I think next year will be a bit of a down year comparatively. We got saved a little with all our seniors coming back this year. Next year we will be younger and thinner before the system and development actually take hold in year 3.
 
#114      
the juiceman cometh
GrayGhost77 said:
Wyoming is usually decent. And recruiting?? Yeah there's like nobody in Wyoming. Lake County alone has more people than that whole state.
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Truth. Looked it up, and the Wyoming 2021 class has more recruits from Illinois than from Wyoming, 2 to 1. Their one Wyoming guy is a three-star, ranked 160th ATH in the country, ranked 2,065 overall. Oh, and he's the #1 overall recruit in the state of Wyoming.

247sports.com

Wyoming 2021 Football Commits

Wyoming
247sports.com 247sports.com
 
#115      
BRucks
OffseasonFanatic said:
I don't see this as a negative. I think having Wyoming on schedule, especially as an away game, can help with recruiting in that area and I would think easy win? (knock on wood).
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Trying to remember the last player we took out of Wyoming.:cautious:
 
#117      
dgcrow
OffseasonFanatic said:
I don't see this as a negative. I think having Wyoming on schedule, especially as an away game, can help with recruiting in that area and I would think easy win? (knock on wood).
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Plan on attending the Wyoming game in Champaign, along with my sister and brother-in-law, who live in Laramie.
 
#118      
OffseasonFanatic
ILL_INI said:
Guys, c'mon, he said in that area. Wyoming is right next to Utah, which borders Nevada and then you're practically in southern California and they are loaded with talent.
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Gotta start somewhere right? South Dakota doesn't have much D-1 Football talent but there could lots of prospects with potential (Tip Reiman is TE #3 on our roster and could be TE #1 once Ford and Barker are NFL Bound).
 
#119      
EyeoftheIllini
the juiceman cometh said:
Truth. Looked it up, and the Wyoming 2021 class has more recruits from Illinois than from Wyoming, 2 to 1. Their one Wyoming guy is a three-star, ranked 160th ATH in the country, ranked 2,065 overall. Oh, and he's the #1 overall recruit in the state of Wyoming.

247sports.com

Wyoming 2021 Football Commits

Wyoming
247sports.com 247sports.com
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Well Bart Miller came to Illinois from Wyoming, so he might know of some players out there worth recruiting in the area. Also Laramie is in eastern part of state just north of Colorado, and Ben Miller was at Air Force for years before coming to Illinois (Bart Miller and Jamison also coached there), so he certainly has connections out that way. Not likely that the Wyoming game yields any recruiting nuggets, but not impossible.
 
#120      
Don In Husky Land
the juiceman cometh said:
Truth. Looked it up, and the Wyoming 2021 class has more recruits from Illinois than from Wyoming, 2 to 1. Their one Wyoming guy is a three-star, ranked 160th ATH in the country, ranked 2,065 overall. Oh, and he's the #1 overall recruit in the state of Wyoming.

247sports.com

Wyoming 2021 Football Commits

Wyoming
247sports.com 247sports.com
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The Cowboys also have a kid from my tiny (pop 500) hometown of Allendale IL (now consolidated into Mt. Carmel High) in 6’8” tight end Jackson Marcotte. Jackson was all state basketball leading the Golden Aces to a second place State finish and turned down D1 bball offers to play football. He has been an on and off starter, although out much of last year with an injury.
 
#122      
TheDrinkinLincoln
ChiefGritty said:
Also, just to be clear, that game is in Champaign, we're not going to Wyoming, Ron Guenther ain't in charge here anymore.
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Is it not a home and home? That's what everyone on here made it seem like. Regardless week 0 games (especially ones we win) are good for the program. Gets everyone in the nation thinking Illinois is a winner, it might be the only game most people watch that aren't Illini fans after the blue balls that are the off-season of CFB and NFL offers.
 
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