Jerrance Howard

Weber's staff already had started to make significant recruiting inroads before Howard arrived. But after a long stretch of recruiting disappointments, he was the perfect additive.

"He loves to hug people and talk to people and that youthfulness really sells Illinois," Weber said. "We had been knocked down so much and had so many kids say 'No.' He brought a freshness to the staff, a little naivete that he hadn't been knocked down a bunch of times. That re-energized us."

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