Illinois Football Recruiting Thread
- Status
Redbirds33333
- Chicago, IL
1st Lovie comment
Who does everyone think will be the first recruit to commit to Lovie?
Who does everyone think will be the first recruit to commit to Lovie?
How far do you have that cart in front of the horse? We won't get 19 of the 20 players in Illinois but we will now be legitimate players for them instead of us being an afterthought. Josh King gives us a better look with Lovie Smith involved
Micah Awodiran would be my guess. Another possibility for me would be Izayah Green-May. Awodiran's was one of the first 10 people Lovie started following on Twitter and was already an Illinois lean before that. I think the first 2018 will be Houston Griffith
Last edited:
BillyBob1
- Champaign
I'm not convinced of this. How about those who are still waiting to graduate in in the spring or summer? The academic calendar is the same regardless of the sport you play so if basketball players can still graduate transfer in the summer then I would have think football players can too.
There could be guys who decide to transfer following spring practice when the writing is on the wall. For instance, QB Anthony Jennings just announced he's transferring from LSU a couple days ago
I saw this article online, good to see articles like this out there about how Smith might change our recruiting.
http://www.si.com/college-football/2016/03/14/lovie-smith-hired-illinois-recruiting
http://www.si.com/college-football/2016/03/14/lovie-smith-hired-illinois-recruiting
orangeswarm76
- hastings Nebraska
Anybody have the recruiting calendar for March and April ?
illiniobserver22
- Chicago
It seems to me that football transfers are not usually that impactful. Ryan Mallett and Wes Lunt are obvious and relevant counter-examples, but at other positions it rarely seems to work out unless it's a star player moving up a level or something.
Remember how big a get Jarred Fayson was?
Please correct me if I'm forgetting a ton of good players or something.
The 5th year thing is starting to get pretty popular, and obviously Juco's are "transfers" of a sort.
But in general I agree, when a player transfers from a program, there are almost always reasons that go both ways.
As for Illinois, I know people's instincts are "Lovie is hot lets get ALL the players RIGHT NOW any way we can get them" but I really, really hope we resist that impulse. Programs that are consistent and are more than the sum of their parts are almost always ones that focus on identifying high school talent that fits what they do, and developing and cycling that talent through year after year after year. That's what I want Illinois to get to in both sports.
Well, Russell Wilson rings a pretty large bell!
We could use a "bell" Smilie. :thumb:
illiniobserver22
- Chicago
Well, Russell Wilson rings a pretty large bell!
True, although he was a graduate transfer. There do seem to be more impact transfers at QB than other positions though.
Which makes sense. QB is the one position where a player can be really excellent and just have no way to play because of someone in front of them.
It's the same thing in recruiting. QB recruits are more equitably distributed among teams than any other position because two of them never gang up and go to the same school.
Akim Millington worked out pretty well for us.
So did Fej. :thumb:
I might redo this and upgrade my dream class. I think this class would be a baseline now for this staff
Yep, this staff has some very strong recruiters and headed by a Nationally known and respected head coach.
Chicago
Texas
Florida
Will all be hit hard
Might want to temper your expectations. I'll be happy with a top 4-6 recruiting class in the B10 this year, but I think expecting anything more than that is drinking a little too much of the orange kool-aid.
Lets not forget that in the past few years we were pumped to get a "Good 3 star" athlete, so we can get an average class. If we are above average with talent, with these coaches we should be doing quite well.
orangeswarm76
- hastings Nebraska
I think we all will be surprised with the work by this staff whether it's high 3 stars or maybe 4 stars or instate gets the needle is definitely pointing up. I am excited to see what happens when this staff goes out and about.
Agree. I would love a class full of top 5-10 in-state kids, as well as 3* guys from TX, FL, and CA.
Amen, Brother! Preach!
Our fanbase as a whole needs to chill out and allow a football coach build a football program.
What are the Texas connections, exactly? Lovie and Hayes-Stoker are from there, but I don't see a lot of experience recruiting there.
Nickerson's connections among CA high school coaches are going to be a focus I'd imagine and McGee has gotten good players from Oklahoma to Arkansas, UAB, and Louisville, and I'd expect that to continue here.
But it looks to me like we're going to be hitting Florida real real hard, which is great.
- Status