Illinois Football Recruiting Thread

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#51      

GILL-INOIS

G
GILL-INOIS
Really hope we aren't done landing secondary recruits yet. Definitely landed some quality in Wilcher, Tobe and Clarke.

CB Hill is the big fish to lure in still. Talented kid has been on campus a ton. Get him in for a game early!

S Saboor Karriem is another quality secondary player that is on our hot list. His scholarship list has gotten lengthy in the last few months and just as talented as the S commits we already have in this class.
 
#54      

Indy Illini Fan

Indy Illini Fan
Indy Illini Fan
#55      

217sports

217sports
Springfield
217sports
www.stltoday.com

No. 19: East St. Louis' Hayden pledged to Illinois only to have SEC heavies take interest

Antwon “Jojo” Hayden thought he was done with recruiting.
www.stltoday.com www.stltoday.com

"Everything but his recruiting process, that is. Hayden remains committed to the Illini but can’t ignore the other schools coming hard after him. It’s a tough place for a 17-year-old to be and Hayden wrestles with it more than he ever thought he would once he committed in March.
“It’s a hard decision,” Hayden said. “Should I stay put knowing I really want to go to this school and I’m committed or should I look into other options? It’s difficult when you have to keep looking at options.”

The choice would only get more difficult should one of those teams try to swoop in and offer his teammate and twin brother Keshawn “Kiki” Hayden"

ESL stays the same
 
#56      

GILL-INOIS

G
GILL-INOIS
217sports said:
www.stltoday.com

No. 19: East St. Louis' Hayden pledged to Illinois only to have SEC heavies take interest

Antwon “Jojo” Hayden thought he was done with recruiting.
www.stltoday.com www.stltoday.com

"Everything but his recruiting process, that is. Hayden remains committed to the Illini but can’t ignore the other schools coming hard after him. It’s a tough place for a 17-year-old to be and Hayden wrestles with it more than he ever thought he would once he committed in March.
“It’s a hard decision,” Hayden said. “Should I stay put knowing I really want to go to this school and I’m committed or should I look into other options? It’s difficult when you have to keep looking at options.”

The choice would only get more difficult should one of those teams try to swoop in and offer his teammate and twin brother Keshawn “Kiki” Hayden"

ESL stays the same
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ESL stays the same?
 
#59      

Scoregasm

S
Scoregasm
KingWolf11 said:
https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1557038947976503296
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Season 5 No GIF by The Office
 
#61      

ChiefGritty

ChiefGritty
Chicago, IL
ChiefGritty
Interesting comments yesterday from Bielema where he suggested that they didn't have many if any scholarships left bar some attrition and that they planned to do the rest in the portal.

I have trepidation about the sustainability of that, even as I understand that to be the way the wind is blowing.

Regularly beating our Big Ten competitors in straight recruiting battles is the only path that leads to where we want to go. That isn't currently happening.
 
#63      

kyillinifan

K
kyillinifan
I didn’t think he would stay. Probably a lot of pressure from Lexington or Louisville.
 
#64      

217sports

217sports
Springfield
217sports
GILL-INOIS said:
ESL stays the same?
Click to expand...
Example #50 of using one prospect to get a lesser prospect a spot somewhere. In the past if we don't take the lesser prospect then we won't get the one we want. Not very interested in any defense of ESL antics if this comes to fruition soon
 
#65      

GILL-INOIS

G
GILL-INOIS
217sports said:
Example #50 of using one prospect to get a lesser prospect a spot somewhere. In the past if we don't take the lesser prospect then we won't get the one we want. Not very interested in any defense of ESL antics if this comes to fruition soon
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What antics are ESL using? They play no role in picking both of them or nothing

Antwon is probably underrated and more teams are taking notice of him now. That just brings about more scholarship offers. He committed to Illinois in March(know it means nothing until he signs). He is more of a hybrid player which translates well at the next level.

I am not a scout on Keshawn but his list consists of mainly 5-6 MAC schools and a few I-AA schools. He committed to CMU in June. CMU did offer to both of them.

The main thing that will play into it is that they are twins and have not been separated for long periods of time. Sometimes change works out, sometimes it doesn't and I don't know their situation.

Illinois has never offered Keshawn nor any other Big Power school at this time. That being said Keshawn is a 2 star prospect currently and if he develops his game more than he might see more scholarship offers down the line like his brother. If his game would develop more, than I have no problem making an offer down the road.
 
#69      

GILL-INOIS

G
GILL-INOIS
This likely will play out like last year with DL recruits/transfers.

Two DL recruits decomitted and we ended up with one DL recruit signing in Jacas. Added two more DL through portal in Wilkins and Edwards.

We still have Muragin, Farrell and Smith committed for 2023. Illinois likely has a few DL recruits and more so transfer portal options for the 2023 class and offseason.
 
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#71      

texillwek

texillwek
🔶🔹🔸🔷
texillwek
ChiefGritty said:
Interesting comments yesterday from Bielema where he suggested that they didn't have many if any scholarships left bar some attrition and that they planned to do the rest in the portal.

I have trepidation about the sustainability of that, even as I understand that to be the way the wind is blowing.

Regularly beating our Big Ten competitors in straight recruiting battles is the only path that leads to where we want to go. That isn't currently happening.
Click to expand...
Perhaps I am misremembering, but during the Lovie era, didn't we lean pretty hard on transfers? I ask because, well, you know...
 
#72      

ChiefGritty

ChiefGritty
Chicago, IL
ChiefGritty
texillwek said:
Perhaps I am misremembering, but during the Lovie era, didn't we lean pretty hard on transfers? I ask because, well, you know...
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In the Lovie era we initially went all-in on HS recruiting, but when that got hard we turned on a dime to the transfer portal because that was easier.

Our offensive and defensive scheme and personnel were all, in the end, just a haphazard "whatever was available" approach.

I'm skittish that something similar is happening now, at least in terms of player acquisition. But I have to admit, the portal is a much more developed method now than it was in 2017, and with no sit out years.

I like the analogy I heard to the NFL, with HS recruiting being the draft, and the portal being free agency. The clear message being you need to excel at both to win.
 
#73      

bluemountain

B
bluemountain
ChiefGritty said:
In the Lovie era we initially went all-in on HS recruiting, but when that got hard we turned on a dime to the transfer portal because that was easier.

Our offensive and defensive scheme and personnel were all, in the end, just a haphazard "whatever was available" approach.

I'm skittish that something similar is happening now, at least in terms of player acquisition. But I have to admit, the portal is a much more developed method now than it was in 2017, and with no sit out years.

I like the analogy I heard to the NFL, with HS recruiting being the draft, and the portal being free agency. The clear message being you need to excel at both to win.
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In the 70's and early 80's it was difficult for the UI's of the world to obtain sufficient talent via HS recruiting to compete with OSU and UM. Mike White basically upended that by going the JuCo route, and after a few years of success on the field we were better able to compete for high quality HS recruits.

We are in a similar situation today. Given the past 20 years, we aren't going to get the type of HS recruits that will quickly allow us to get out of our current position. The portal has the potential to absolutely change that equation. Personally, I would recruit the heck out of the portal to quickly upgrade our talent level and our ability to compete. A few years of winning will then give us much better ability to compete for quality HS recruits than we have now
 
#74      

TheDrinkinLincoln

TheDrinkinLincoln
TheDrinkinLincoln
ChiefGritty said:
In the Lovie era we initially went all-in on HS recruiting, but when that got hard we turned on a dime to the transfer portal because that was easier.

Our offensive and defensive scheme and personnel were all, in the end, just a haphazard "whatever was available" approach.

I'm skittish that something similar is happening now, at least in terms of player acquisition. But I have to admit, the portal is a much more developed method now than it was in 2017, and with no sit out years.

I like the analogy I heard to the NFL, with HS recruiting being the draft, and the portal being free agency. The clear message being you need to excel at both to win.
Click to expand...
I personally like our approach in that BB seems to be using HS recruiting (draft) to build the foundation of the program in OL, RB, DL, and LB. OL and DL especially typically require years to develop and a consistent strength program and coaching to really pan out but can be less dependent on initial star rating. Then we can fill out the flash/skill positions with the portal for kids that didn't quite get reps at the big programs until we get more of a rep sending those types of players to the NFL. I think we made a huge jump with secondary players last year and we are seeing more CB/S want to come here through the portal and will hopefully see that translate to being able to recruit the position better as well.
 
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