Illinois Football Recruiting Thread

[Deleted member 654622]

I would like to know examples of "showing them all the love".and choosing another school. My statements are from actual recruits experiences and not the pretend social media hype.
Your comments about Texas is obviously the way the staff feel as well. That being said, why blame in state players and coaches when it's clear they are not wanted? I am having difficulty understanding the logic. Kids everywhere else is better but, we want you to come and be put on the back burner whenever we can land a "better kid". I just don't get it.

pardon my spelling, I am not looking these dudes up
Billingsly TE decided on Alabama.
AJ Henning WR decided on Michigan
Mookie WR decided on Ohio State
Those are actual recruits, not people I made up in my mind

I did not blame the coaches nor the players from the state of Illinois. I am tired of hearing about it. If they don't want to come to Illinois and Lovie doesn't want to go after them so what? It is not a hot bed of talent we are missing out on. You can all go else where and Lovie will just have to pull from the South. Which is fine with me

 

[Deleted member 654622]

A 3 star is a 3 star period. I am not following the logic.

I emphatically disagree with that

 

[mhuml32]

Take a look at the 2007 Roster that was 9-3. The State of Illinois is well represented. Once Zook was force to hire to Coordinators that couldn't recruit, all things went down hill. Beckman started a little momentum initially but the treatment of Bailey (perception) put a damper on the Chicago Suburbs.

You can't lament the downfall of Zook having to replace Locksley/Disch/Mallory but also say that Beckman's hiring of Beatty/Gonzales/Banks was the antidote. Couldn't agree more than there used to be more Illinois players on the roster, but that just leans towards my argument; even when there were 50+ Illinois players on the roster, there were still loud complaints about the lack of attention paid by the Illinois football coaching staff within the state. And sure, the Bailey situation looks poorly on the Illinois staff, but those situations happen at every school. You can't convince me that schools like Iowa, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Michigan, Notre Dame, Michigan State, or Ohio State recruited Illinois players and never had one of those situations go south.

 

[Positive illini fan]

There are multiple reasons we have theorized on why we struggle in-state compared to others. But one thing that has stayed constant is that this has been a pattern over the last 3 coaching staffs. So title can talk about coaches wanting us to succeed and maybe they do. But reality is this has been a problem across multiple coaching staffs, so I’m not putting a majority of blame on the staffs anymore. It’s a pattern, Lovie identified it and choose a different path. Most likely is will decide his fate here. Let’s just see how it unfolds.

 

[Title]

You can't lament the downfall of Zook having to replace Locksley/Disch/Mallory but also say that Beckman's hiring of Beatty/Gonzales/Banks was the antidote. Couldn't agree more than there used to be more Illinois players on the roster, but that just leans towards my argument; even when there were 50+ Illinois players on the roster, there were still loud complaints about the lack of attention paid by the Illinois football coaching staff within the state. And sure, the Bailey situation looks poorly on the Illinois staff, but those situations happen at every school. You can't convince me that schools like Iowa, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Michigan, Notre Dame, Michigan State, or Ohio State recruited Illinois players and never had one of those situations go south.

They absolutely have however, they are not the home school. You have a different expectation of your family members than others correct. The pride is within the State right. I will say this, in my experience, the schools you mentioned above excluding Minnesota and Michigan State are pretty upfront and honest during the recruiting process. Not a lot of pretending, just strait to the point. There is a huge difference but I won't go into that. I am not looking to bash this staff. I am simply saying in State is not a priority for this staff which is okay. Don't blame coaches and kids for that.

 

[Title]

I emphatically disagree with that

Your opinion which I can respect.
Stars are not based on talent, they are based on the ability to be a college prospect. This the reason that whenever a kid receive an Alabama, Clemson, Ohio State offer, most jump up a star or two depending on the situation. Lester Cotton is a prime example. He played at ESL as a Freshman and was named to the Max Preps all American team. He was a 3 star. He transferred to a local High School right next to the campus and didn't improve. He remained a 3 star with no offers until Saban came to a game and offered him. He immediately jumped to a 4 star and top 100. After Saban offered, he received 40 more offers. That being said, if Nick based things on ratings and not we he saw with he own eyes, He would have had Lester as a starting guard off and on for 3 years. It's a reason why certain school dominate the recruiting game. They typically go after what they like that fits their system and not what sports writers think based on highlights and T Shirts/shorts.

 

[Title]

There are multiple reasons we have theorized on why we struggle in-state compared to others. But one thing that has stayed constant is that this has been a pattern over the last 3 coaching staffs. So title can talk about coaches wanting us to succeed and maybe they do. But reality is this has been a problem across multiple coaching staffs, so I’m not putting a majority of blame on the staffs anymore. It’s a pattern, Lovie identified it and choose a different path. Most likely is will decide his fate here. Let’s just see how it unfolds.

Coaches (High School) are not the final decision makers. In a lot of cases they are far from it. Think about this for second. Coach Reed in STL is great friend with Patterson. I mean great friends, yet not one of his top players have chose Illinois. I know the reason and it's not because he don't like Patterson.

 

[Positive illini fan]

Coaches (High School) are not the final decision makers. In a lot of cases they are far from it. Think about this for second. Coach Reed in STL is great friend with Patterson. I mean great friends, yet not one of his top players have chose Illinois. I know the reason and it's not because he don't like Patterson.

Well then please share the reason.

 

[ILL_INI]

Let me just paste this here without comment. This shows where Illinois' 2020 talent came from (total of five from outside the Chicago area, with two being from ESL) and what Power 5 college they committed/signed with. This is based on only the top 2000 HS recruits and some prep recruits nationally, so Kai Kroeger is not included (data was pulled for a different use) and it's only players going to a P5 school. Stars, Rating and Rank are 24/7 composite. Don't forget, Illinois had a commit from Jadon Thompson, 4 star from Chicago ranked 355 with an 0.8925 rating, who (because of grades???) signed with Cincinnati. Iowa and Northwestern each with five recruits.

Name	City	State	Position	Stars	Rating	Rank	Rank Type	College	Conference
Antonio Johnson	East Saint Louis	IL	S	4​	0.9651​	78​	HS	Texas A&M	SEC
A.J. Henning	Frankfort	IL	WR	4​	0.9548​	101​	HS	Michigan	Big Ten
Peter Skoronski	Park Ridge	IL	OC	4​	0.9503​	112​	HS	Northwestern	Big Ten
Rylie Mills	Lake Forest	IL	SDE	4​	0.9306​	159​	HS	Notre Dame	IND
Alante Brown	Chicago	IL	WR	3​	0.8897​	1​	Prep	Nebraska	Big Ten
Tyler Elsbury	Byron	IL	OG	3​	0.8866​	404​	HS	Iowa	Big Ten
Kevo Wesley	Chicago	IL	OC	3​	0.8788​	489​	HS	Vanderbilt	SEC
Javontez Spraggins	East Saint Louis	IL	OC	3​	0.8747​	547​	HS	Tennessee	SEC
Leshon Williams	Oak Lawn	IL	RB	3​	0.8676​	663​	HS	Iowa	Big Ten
Marcus Harper	CHICAGO	IL	OG	3​	0.8647​	727​	HS	Oregon	PAC12
Sean McLaughlin	Frankfort	IL	SDE	3​	0.8647​	733​	HS	Northwestern	Big Ten
Greyson Metz	Glen Ellyn	IL	OLB	3​	0.8627​	776​	HS	Northwestern	Big Ten
Dylan Barrett	Saint Charles	IL	OG	3​	0.8626​	779​	HS	Wisconsin	Big Ten
Xander Mueller	Wheaton	IL	OLB	3​	0.8621​	794​	HS	Northwestern	Big Ten
Willis Singleton	Gurnee	IL	DT	3​	0.8598​	846​	HS	Iowa State	Big XII
Isaiah Bruce	Lena	IL	DT	3​	0.8586​	883​	HS	Iowa	Big Ten
Marcellus Moore	Plainfield	IL	APB	3​	0.8551​	961​	HS	Purdue	Big Ten
AJ Lawson	Decatur	IL	CB	3​	0.8518​	1060​	HS	Iowa	Big Ten
Lukas Van Ness	Barrington	IL	SDE	3​	0.8518​	1061​	HS	Iowa	Big Ten
Hunter Welcing	Lake Zurich	IL	TE	3​	0.8473​	1199​	HS	Northwestern	Big Ten
Chau Smith	Chicago	IL	CB	3​	0.8442​	1300​	HS	Washington State	PAC12
Shontrail Key	Chicago	IL	DT	3​	0.8315​	1706​	HS	Arizona	PAC12
Jack Olsen	Wheaton	IL	K	3​	0.8309​	1729​	HS	Michigan State	Big Ten

 

[Title]

pardon my spelling, I am not looking these dudes up
Billingsly TE decided on Alabama.
AJ Henning WR decided on Michigan
Mookie WR decided on Ohio State
Those are actual recruits, not people I made up in my mind

I did not blame the coaches nor the players from the state of Illinois. I am tired of hearing about it. If they don't want to come to Illinois and Lovie doesn't want to go after them so what? It is not a hot bed of talent we are missing out on. You can all go else where and Lovie will just have to pull from the South. Which is fine with me

I agree with your bottom statement and my comments are for the individuals who are crying about "no loyalty". Nothing is forced and everyone is choosing want they want.

As far as the individuals listed above, Mookis is from St. Louis and played for Patterson. On one of the visits recruits were kind of disappointed with the amount of attention Patterson and the staff put toward the Trinity kids. I think both AJ's were lost due to the attention Mookie got. In the end the dice was rolled and he came up empty. That's how recruiting goes.

I thought it was good discussion. I understand.

 

[TheDrinkinLincoln]

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1260977378689519618

Ros posted a Ric Flair gif. Who we getting insiders?

 

[illinidarrin]

A lot of twitter chatter of a commitment or two. I don't know if this from the other day or something new?

 

[thunderwear]

A 3 star is a 3 star period. I am not following the logic.

The logic comes in the tape. Its easier to assess players when, week in and week out, they are going against top-tier talent. So there are fewer questionmarks.

 

[Positive illini fan]

I think it’s Trevor Moffit. He’s the one I thought was going to commit this past weekend.

 

[Title]

The logic comes in the tape. Its easier to assess players when, week in and week out, they are going against top-tier talent. So there are fewer questionmarks.

That is true however stars are not based on film 100%. They are based more on measurable and what the writers think colleges will recruit. If stars were based on film, you would have at totally different ranking system. There is a huge difference between highlights and game film. I am sure you agree.

 

[djkirkpatrick22]

I think it’s Trevor Moffit. He’s the one I thought was going to commit this past weekend.

Could it potentially be Craig? I know he commits later, but would he potentially tell the school he's planning on committing to or does that school typically find out when the rest of the world does?

 

[Positive illini fan]

Could it potentially be Craig? I know he commits later, but would he potentially tell the school he's planning on committing to or does that school typically find out when the rest of the world does?

It going to be moffit I think. Craig is a coin flip last I heard

 

[djkirkpatrick22]

It going to be moffit I think. Craig is a coin flip last I heard

But don't we think Moffit already kind of committed? Wasn't he a part of the two commits the other day, Solomon and him? The staff getting excited again tells me there is a third. That's kind of how I see it then.

 

[Dan]

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1260993774798409728

 

[Positive illini fan]

But don't we think Moffit already kind of committed? Wasn't he a part of the two commits the other day, Solomon and him? The staff getting excited again tells me there is a third. That's kind of how I see it then.

I agree I think we have 3 commits. I believe sedarius and the transfer from Louisville committed 2 days ago. Moffit was the reaction for today. Also we just got a CB for Craig. This is getting very interesting.

 

[ILLINISON1]

Ok so maybe the wrong thread to post this in but wanted to see what others think regarding last year's transfers. How much credit does Rod get for coaching up behbeh and Peters? Did we luck out and get microwave transfers, or did Rod and staff coach them up and get something out of them that MI and USC did not?
I'm asking because the underlying idea that "our" staff is not working as hard would be muted if you think we actually did something with these kids vs plug and play.
I was excited about the Rod hire and still think we are ok with him. Also we are recruiting to our style of play once we get past Peters.
Overall when I consider where we were at and how fast we have upgraded at the most important position I like what our staff has done. Lovie gets knocked for being a defense only guy and does have Rex Grossman on his resume. However he seems to have, or allowed others, to find the parts we need to accelerate our building the program.
IF we land 2021 class with any level of success these last few years HAVE to be seen as a success. I don't see success at this point being tied to were the talent comes from, only that we get it and it translate s to field play. Despite Lovie's seemingly sloppy in game management at times he does seem to get this part of coaching right.

 

[HoosierIllini]

How many commitments are we at now? I‘m assuming Collier is decommitting so that would put us at 2? Or does Buchanan count even though no staff ever confirmed it?

 

[FT35]

I agree I think we have 3 commits. I believe sedarius and the transfer from Louisville committed 2 days ago. Moffit was the reaction for today. Also we just got a CB for Craig. This is getting very interesting.

It looks like Ryan Easterling put in the CB for Craig to come here. Easterling is usually just an extension of Werner so I find this to be rather odd.

Craig seems somewhat conflicted here.

 

[djkirkpatrick22]

How many commitments are we at now? I‘m assuming Collier is decommitting so that would put us at 2? Or does Buchanan count even though no staff ever confirmed it?

I'm a little lost here so if anyone could help me out I would appreciate it. Why are we thinking Collier is decommitting? I know his coach posted something but wasn't sure what that was reference to. Who is the silent verbal transfer from Louisville? Thanks!

 

[FT35]

I'm a little lost here so if anyone could help me out I would appreciate it. Why are we thinking Collier is decommitting? I know his coach posted something but wasn't sure what that was reference to. Who is the silent verbal transfer from Louisville? Thanks!

TreSean Smith:

https://247sports.com/Player/TreSean-Smith-88069/