That is different though than a "verbal." A verbal means a commitment to the coach and school. Giving a "silent verbal", i.e., a commitment to coach/school and then actively continuing your recruitment, taking home visits, taking official visits, etc. means absolutely nothing. Zero. The "silent" part also mean absolutely nothing if it is not so "silent" but appears at great frequency on message boards. That does not mean that the player may eventually commit to any school (including Illinois).
" I'll tell you a great secret coach, I am committed to you, I'll definitely attend your school. In the meantime, I'll have some great home visits with Shaka Smart, Bill Self, Roy Williams, Tom Izzo and others and also take some great visits to their schools. I will do it so we can just make fun of them when I make it public in a few months. But shhhh... please do not tell anyone coach, that will be our little secret... just only tell a few people so it can appear on message boards every day and everyone and their mother know about it. Don't worry, the other coaches are idiots, they will never find out, it will be our little secret."