Recent content by Simeon Rice

Read: I just talked to them for the first time yesterday, but they are offering at least 2x what everyone else is

Not even a top 5. Yikes. My only consolation is Mizzou isn't in that list

Interesting relevant example. Don't know any of the details aside from what's on the 247 page, but in-state DL/Edge Keysan Taylor (a top 400, 4* composite from Rockford) just received a CB to Ole Miss. Vandy (visit), IU (visit), ASU, Cincy also listed as destinations under consideration...

This is where I am at as well. Losing Lopati, while disappointing, isn't that big of a deal. The bigger deal is what happened (is happening) since the last phenomenal prep class. In that class, it was big on quantity (great point by @mhuml32 about spreading cash in the prior post), and big on...

#12 on 247 composite, seen below. How many other top 25 do we have a shot at? 1? 2? https://247sports.com/season/2027-football/compositerecruitrankings/?InstitutionGroup=HighSchool&State=IL

Define red flags. '27 is one of the deepest in-state classes in years, if not decades, and we almost assuredly won't touch the top 10 and barely register for the next 10-25. Our neighbor rivals have far more momentum in our own state. And this in an era when you don't need years of...

I think we all saw this coming.....

Eh, can't fault a kid for making a 7-figure reservation even if he swaps that reservation for a better one down the road. For the majority of kids, that first offer may be the best one. Kid blew up at camps and earned it

You will always pay more in the open market (Portal) with multiple bidders than you will with 1 bidder. No option is cheap, but it's why retention is so important

Problem is, QB is the most important position on the field, and if you don't 'homegrow' them, you are forced to overpay in the portal to get one. Case in point this past portal season when we don't have a homegrown solution ready so we need to spend a large chunk on a QB which cascades into not...

Would be huge kick in the nuts. There were 2 in-state QBs that we didn't go after and now likely have no shot there as well. The portal class was a bit of a disappointment, and this prep class is trending the same. So odd for this to occur after the best 2-season on-field performance in a...

....Defensive Line?

Mizzou has pretty much taken 1/2 the guys we've tried to get in the past few months

Across the entire state. When BB started at Illinois, he talked a big game about instate recruiting and backed it up with a lot of focus on the state. The staff did pretty well last year too. But, between the offseason portal season, and the early prep season, it seems we've lost a lot of...

Unless he goes to Iowa (or any other non-Illini program)