Illinois Football Recruiting Thread

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#103      

Macho Man

M
Macho Man
TX Illiniwek said:
Nah, you are old when you remember seeing guys like Scott Studwell, Kurt Steger, Lonnie Perrin and Dan Beaver, among others at that time, play. (OK, someone come on here who saw Dick play!) Sorry....back to recruiting!
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I saw Dick play for UI. I remember listening to Jim Turpin on WMBD in Peoria broadcast the games. I saw Don Freeman play when the Assembly Hall was new.
 
#111      

illinibuck11

I
illinibuck11
How is Northwestern still recruiting the state well? Do you think they will hold onto all of them if they trend downwards?
 
#112      

ChiefGritty

ChiefGritty
Chicago, IL
ChiefGritty
illinibuck11 said:
How is Northwestern still recruiting the state well? Do you think they will hold onto all of them if they trend downwards?
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Academically prestigious private schools have kind of collectively decoded how to make that an advantage for them on the trail, I feel like.

Tommy Amaker at Harvard was a bit of a trailblazer in that regard.

Also, their facility is wildly overrated, but still undeniably way better than their old situation.

And you gotta give Fitzy credit where it's due, he's built up their credibility in the Chicagoland HS community brick by brick over a long, long period.
 
#113      

EyeoftheIllini

EyeoftheIllini
EyeoftheIllini
illinibuck11 said:
How is Northwestern still recruiting the state well? Do you think they will hold onto all of them if they trend downwards?
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It will start to wane some if they keep having poor seasons, but it will take a bit of time. Just as it is taking some time for Illini to elevate in-state recruiting to get more of the top players. The relationships are important, and those don’t disappear or get established overnight. And NW really doesn’t pull that many from IL. But they do manage to pull a few each year from top 15 in state that we’d like.
 
#114      

Pikeillinifan

Pikeillinifan
Pikeillinifan
illinibuck11 said:
How is Northwestern still recruiting the state well? Do you think they will hold onto all of them if they trend downwards?
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They do have a great practice facility, but probably most importantly it’s an excellent school and most kids that go there realize they aren’t going to the NFL and just want that degree from Northwestern - and the connections that come with it.
 
#115      

ArdmoreGuy

A
ArdmoreGuy
Illinivek23 said:
How is Cal doing so far this fall?
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Ardmore is struggling this year, after going to the state championship last season. The Tigers lost nearly the entire OL from 2021 (most went to college to play football at a small college/univ or were offered a 'ship to play). They are 2-3 so far on the season, just got shut out 0-35 by Elgin who won state last season. I say all that because you probably won't see the same numbers from Cal as we saw last year.

The week before, Cal accounted for SEVEN touchdowns against Noble in a 60-56 loss (Noble scored on the final play, which the officials screwed up a call and took away what would have been his 8th touchdown with no time on the clock (said Ardmore held, but never gave them another down). He threw 5 touchdowns and rushed for 2 in that game. I'll try to get his season stats sometime soon for you guys,.
 
#117      

Centennial Illini

C
Centennial Illini
TX Illiniwek said:
Nah, you are old when you remember seeing guys like Scott Studwell, Kurt Steger, Lonnie Perrin and Dan Beaver, among others at that time, play. (OK, someone come on here who saw Dick play!) Sorry....back to recruiting!
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I did. Butkus played linebacker at 240 when offensive tackles rarely weighted more than 215. My first Illini game was a 12-2 loss to Stanford that I listened to on radio. J.C. Caroline was the running back. My wife and I will make the trip up from St Louis this Saturday as we always do. I sometimes can't believe I've lived this long.
 
#119      

ArdmoreGuy

A
ArdmoreGuy
ArdmoreGuy said:
Ardmore is struggling this year, after going to the state championship last season. The Tigers lost nearly the entire OL from 2021 (most went to college to play football at a small college/univ or were offered a 'ship to play). They are 2-3 so far on the season, just got shut out 0-35 by Elgin who won state last season. I say all that because you probably won't see the same numbers from Cal as we saw last year.

The week before, Cal accounted for SEVEN touchdowns against Noble in a 60-56 loss (Noble scored on the final play, which the officials screwed up a call and took away what would have been his 8th touchdown with no time on the clock (said Ardmore held, but never gave them another down). He threw 5 touchdowns and rushed for 2 in that game. I'll try to get his season stats sometime soon for you guys,.
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Not sure how to edit a post, but I meant to say "Swanson scored on the final play, which the officials screwed up a call"
 
#121      

BRucks

BRucks
BRucks
nichi said:
Butkus would play center when we got close to the goal line, to block for Jim Grabowski.
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He must have played center pretty well:

Butkus chose to attend the University of Illinois, and played center and linebacker from 1962 through 1964 for the Illinois Fighting Illini football team. In his first year on the varsity team, he was named to the 1962 All-Big Ten Conference football team as the third-team center by the Associated Press (AP) and second-team center by United Press International (UPI).[8][9] In 1963, Illinois compiled an 8–1–1 record and defeated Washington in the 1964 Rose Bowl. Butkus was named the team's most valuable player for the season, and was awarded the Chicago Tribune Silver Football as the Big Ten's most valuable player.[10] He was a unanimous choice as a center for the 1963 College Football All-America Team, earning first-team honors from all seven major selectors.[11]

As a senior in 1964, Butkus was named the team's co-captain along with safety George Donnelly.[12] UPI deemed Butkus college football's Lineman of the Year for 1964,[13] and he was named the player of the year by the American Football Coaches Association and The Sporting News.[14] For the second consecutive season he was deemed the Illini's most valuable player. He was chosen for the 1964 All-America team by five of the six major selectors. In a cover story for Sports Illustrated that season, sportswriter Dan Jenkins remarked, "If every college football team had a linebacker like Dick Butkus of Illinois, all fullbacks soon would be three feet tall and sing soprano."[15] Butkus also finished sixth in Heisman Trophy balloting in 1963 and third in 1964, rare results both for a lineman and a defensive player.[16] According to statistics kept by the university, he completed his college career with 374 tackles: 97 in 1962, 145 in 1963, and 132 in 1964

For, arguably, the best linebacker to ever play the game (after all, the national award is named after him) he certainly won a lot of awards as a center. Odd, no?
 
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