Illinois Football Recruiting Thread

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#51      
Indy Illini Fan
ChiTown said:
Well deserved Promotion in my opinion.
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Oh no doubt … Bret will continue to promote him …

When Barry gets a HC job … Art will either be promoted here or go with Barry and maybe even be his OC depending on the job Barry gets …

Art will be an OC sooner rather than later and will be a HC or a year or two away from being a HM HC by the time or he’s 35 … I’d put $$$ on it …

I truly think that highly of the guy …
 
#53      
DevILLDawg
Indy Illini Fan said:
I REALLY like where we sit with Rankin and Anderson …

People aren’t giving us enough credit with Sutter … Think it’s us or Bama as of today …

Riordan is us or Iowa and we’ve made up SIGNIFICANT ground …

I also like where we sit with Cameron McHaney & Micah Smith … Bret LOVES Vero Beach … IYKYK … 😎

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Wow! We are in the hunt for some Construction-Grade Earth Movers.

Bret with a top-notch line is as dangerous as Tony La Russa behind the wheel! Look out B1G! This ain't your daddy's Illinois Football!
 
#55      
Indy Illini Fan
#57      
BDMAN
Scoregasm said:
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Near, Far wherever you are.....🎵
 
#59      
mhuml32
steelmen72 said:
Owen Fors has been committed to the Illini for a while. He is taking visits and enjoying the recruiting process.
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If this is true, it creates some ripples across the class projections.


I've always viewed Fors, Riordan, and Tony B. to be battling for the last remaining guard spot. If Tony B. is being recruited for defensive line, that simplifies it but....is the staff going to bring in 5 offensive line HS recruits? I still think they'll bring in another tackle prep. If they bring in both Riordan and Fors, that's three guys that are definitely guards. The staff is probably going to bring in two minimum, but likely 3-4 offensive line transfers next year. That would be a LOT of new bodies. Plus, the glut at guard was already high going into this year.

The ongoing recruitment at LBer is also interesting, and potentially connected. Is Bielema thinking this is going to be the moment for the program and he's going to bring in an old-school 28-man class? Would be an interesting test-case on whether a staff can keep that many guys in one class happy within the NIL era (I would have doubts) but these are the best recruiting "vibes" around the program in two decades. Would also mean there will be more roster culling next offseason than normal and would require Illinois to be really young going into the 2026 season (which also happens to have Duke and Mizzou on the schedule).
 
#60      
HoosierIllini
Is it possible we see any (possibly pressured) decommitments later on in the process? We could see possibly 5-7 4⭐️ recruits commiting alone along with some high 3⭐️s. Wonder if that pushes out certain players if we hit our cap on this class
 
#62      
steelmen72
mhuml32 said:
If this is true, it creates some ripples across the class projections.


I've always viewed Fors, Riordan, and Tony B. to be battling for the last remaining guard spot. If Tony B. is being recruited for defensive line, that simplifies it but....is the staff going to bring in 5 offensive line HS recruits? I still think they'll bring in another tackle prep. If they bring in both Riordan and Fors, that's three guys that are definitely guards. The staff is probably going to bring in two minimum, but likely 3-4 offensive line transfers next year. That would be a LOT of new bodies. Plus, the glut at guard was already high going into this year.

The ongoing recruitment at LBer is also interesting, and potentially connected. Is Bielema thinking this is going to be the moment for the program and he's going to bring in an old-school 28-man class? Would be an interesting test-case on whether a staff can keep that many guys in one class happy within the NIL era (I would have doubts) but these are the best recruiting "vibes" around the program in two decades. Would also mean there will be more roster culling next offseason than normal and would require Illinois to be really young going into the 2026 season (which also happens to have Duke and Mizzou on the schedule).
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Illinois has at leat 10 OL they have signed since 2023 that won't ever see the field consistently. Those guys will leave and/or get overrecruited. This 2025 OL class not highly regarded won't scare any OL recruits going forward. Once you continue to recruit 4 star OL recruits everybody else is for depth reasons. I would name the OL currently on the team that won't play at all but you do the research. I don't mind being young if you have good talent on your roster. Illinois loses a lot after the 2025 season but as long as they are a bowl eligible team then I would be happy having a young team
 
#65      
HoosierIllini
I understand that offer lists are much more important in determining how highly regarded a recruit is, and much better indicators of success than site rankings. Yet, man it is annoying how after guys commit to the Illini they seem to slowly drop down in rank.
 
#68      
Bleedorangeandblue44
illinifiedler said:
As of today, I'd say we are clear favorites for Fors and Balanganayi (DL), and slight favorites for Riordan (head to head with Iowa)
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Would really like to see us get Balanganayi, not just because I think he'll be really good at Illinois but would be nice to get someone from my neck of the woods who so often has gone to Iowa, Wisconsin and others the last 10-20 years.
 
#70      
mhuml32
Bleedorangeandblue44 said:
Would really like to see us get Balanganayi, not just because I think he'll be really good at Illinois but would be nice to get someone from my neck of the woods who so often has gone to Iowa, Wisconsin and others the last 10-20 years.
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I'm a big Tony B. fan. He's piled up some really good offers since the start of 2025. He sticks out to me as criminally underrated.
 
#73      
and 69 others
Indy Illini Fan said:
Oh no doubt … Bret will continue to promote him …

When Barry gets a HC job … Art will either be promoted here or go with Barry and maybe even be his OC depending on the job Barry gets …

Art will be an OC sooner rather than later and will be a HC or a year or two away from being a HM HC by the time or he’s 35 … I’d put $$$ on it …

I truly think that highly of the guy …
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Who would have thought when he transferred from Rutgers, we’d be getting so much more than a serviceable QB2? He has brought so much to this program.
 
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