Didn’t want to link whole article here, so hopefully this is OK. Text below is from Werner’s free Daily Digest on Illini Inquirer, and it gives nice definition of a blueshirt scholarship and sheds light on the Illini’s recent recruiting of 2022 prospects.
“ Why it matters: Illinois only has a few open scholarships in the Class of 2022 but is offering some prospects — including [Xavier] Scott and [Noah] Matthews — a blueshirt scholarship. If a player blueshirts, he would count toward the program’s current 25-scholarship allotment in the next recruiting class (in this case 2023), but he cannot be officially recruited (cannot take an official visit, cannot sign a national letter of intent, etc.) and cannot officially join the team until after the first day of 2022 fall practice. Illinois has done this often in recent years, including last year with transfers Jack Badovinac and Max Rosenthal.”