Illinois Football Recruiting Thread

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#1      

Dan

Dan
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Dan
Welcome to the Illinois Football Recruiting Thread :illinois:


2026 Illini Football Commits

1) QB Michael Clayton (November 10th, 2024)
2) DL Kingston Shaw (January 1st, 2025)
3) WR Davon Grant (January 8th, 2025)
4) OL Landen Von Seggern (January 15th, 2025)
5) WR Kenyon Alston (January 23rd, 2025)
6) Edge Jacob Alexander (January 27th, 2025)
7) LB Cam Thomas (February 6th, 2025)
8) LB Kaedyn Cobbs (February 7th, 2025)
9) OL Casey Thomann (March 4th, 2025)
10) LB Tony Williams (April 14th, 2025)
11) DB Almirian Thomas (April 14th, 2025)
12) DL/OL Tony Balanganayi (April 16th, 2025)
13) DL Parker Crim (May 14th, 2025)
14) DL King Liggins (May 21st, 2025)
15) WR Nasir Rankin (May 21st, 2025)
16) TE Will Vala (June 9th, 2025)
17) RB Nelsyn Wheeler (June 10th, 2025)
18) Edge Jaylen Stewart (June 15th, 2025)
19) Edge Kayden Bennett (June 17th, 2025)
20) OL Kai Pritchard (June 18th, 2025)
21) DB Isaiah Williams (June 18th, 2025)
22) DB Nick Hankins (June 19th, 2025)
23) DB Jacob Eberhart (July 12th, 2025)


2027 Illini Football Commits

1) QB Kamden Lopati (July 27th, 2025)
 
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#2      
Illini-Rule
Todays the day for the Anderson announcement. Insiders, how are we feeling? I know I've seen some posts on here acting like we have already lost him. But I feel like this in know aka, our insiders have been fairly silent. However, I've been to busy to follow the recruiting thread lately.
 
#3      
illinifan1987
Illini-Rule said:
Todays the day for the Anderson announcement. Insiders, how are we feeling? I know I've seen some posts on here acting like we have already lost him. But I feel like this in know aka, our insiders have been fairly silent. However, I've been to busy to follow the recruiting thread lately.
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#5      
the juiceman cometh
Illini-Rule said:
Todays the day for the Anderson announcement. Insiders, how are we feeling? I know I've seen some posts on here acting like we have already lost him. But I feel like this in know aka, our insiders have been fairly silent. However, I've been to busy to follow the recruiting thread lately.
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I think the fact that insiders have gone silent speaks volumes in and of itself.
 
#9      
Joel Goodson
Rich said:
Only emphasizes how important Vala signing was.

And if signing another TE pushed them away to Bama/Miss, then they weren't the guys we thought they were to begin with
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I like Farrell and the Dakota transfer too. obviously, Farrell is coming back from a major injury. but he has a lot of promise
 
#10      
artist3
Rich said:
Only emphasizes how important Vala signing was.

And if signing another TE pushed them away to Bama/Miss, then they weren't the guys we thought they were to begin with
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The Vala committment was very important, yes, and it’s very disappointing that those 2 are going elsewhere (especially Anderson imo), but that is absolutely not the reason they went elsewhere so let’s not tell ourselves that as some lame coping mechanism. Those guys are studs and it would’ve been great to get one of them.
 
#12      
thefalcon5
Outside the obvious optics of signing either or both the in state TEs and the staffs clear desire to upgrade the position, I personally don’t see it as a massive loss for the program.

Glass half full: we hung around with Bama and Ole Miss till the end for top 200 guys. TE is one of the lower importance positions and can easily be masked with different personnel.
 
#13      
WhereDoWeStandWithStorr?
With anderson what stood out he very clearly said the hardest part will be telling the primary coaches and relationships "no". Assuming this is ole miss... makes sense to speculate their staff made that "no" the hardest over the other schools/staffs (including ours).

Of course $$ may be a whole other side to this.
 
#15      
Nohops 73
RoundBalcs said:
I am having trouble wrapping my head around the fact that he visited SO many times but will end up elsewhere. Could the staff realistically have done anything differently to change the outcome?
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Agree completely. If all of us are disappointed, imagine how the staff feels. Hosting someone 15 times is a huge commitment of time, resources, and emotional energy.
I’m also having a hard time wrapping my head around Ole Miss having more $$$ than Illinois. Much smaller alumni base in one of the most economically challenged states.
 
#19      
Indy Illini Fan
Nohops 73 said:
Agree completely. If all of us are disappointed, imagine how the staff feels. Hosting someone 15 times is a huge commitment of time, resources, and emotional energy.
I’m also having a hard time wrapping my head around Ole Miss having more $$$ than Illinois. Much smaller alumni base in one of the most economically challenged states.
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Ole Miss gave JC more money than we were willing to offer …
 
#23      
Gbop
I personally wish JC the best of luck. Every interview I’ve heard with him, he seems like a good kid. This would have hurt a lot worse in previous years, but I don’t think it’s a huge blow right now. I just hate to see anyone ragging on the kid for his choice.

Where does the staff turn to for the final scholarships. Will they be saving them for possible flips in the fall?
 
#24      
PleaseMakeABowlGame
Indy Illini Fan said:
I agree … I know at least Bret felt that way … Clearly wanted both but Bret viewed Mack as a “game changer” … NFL guy …

I won’t say who but someone on our staff thinks Vala > Anderson … Long term …
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Mack also may have been a bit of a Tylef Warren type. Has literally played every skill position. Maybe I'm wrong, but think we would've had a better shot if our visit was after Bama's. Paraphrasing, but did read somewhere him saying something along the lines of "Everyone around me wanted to stay home, but my heart was always at Bama." (FWLIW)
 
#25      
Illiniam1984
Gbop said:
I personally wish JC the best of luck. Every interview I’ve heard with him, he seems like a good kid. This would have hurt a lot worse in previous years, but I don’t think it’s a huge blow right now. I just hate to see anyone ragging on the kid for his choice.

Where does the staff turn to for the final scholarships. Will they be saving them for possible flips in the fall?
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Think they may add another Safety and a Nickel Back to the class…
 
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