Illinois Football Recruiting Thread
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Some recent on3 in-state predictions:
- Henry Sakalas (Nazareth) - Michigan State
- Matt Brady (Bloomington) - Michigan State
- Chris Kasky (Nazareth) - Mizzou
- Henry Sakalas (Nazareth) - Michigan State
- Matt Brady (Bloomington) - Michigan State
- Chris Kasky (Nazareth) - Mizzou
Joel Goodson
- it's all ball bearings, nowadays
Brady just committed to MSU. Not great, Bob
for some unknown reasons, we simply can’t get anyone from Naz.
it’s the same story every year
Maybe there are people/person there actively working against us?
thats my guess
Guessing the money was underwhelming, only so much to go around.
I actually likes Bielema approach to these high school recruits who are unproven at the college level. 80% are going to be busts anyway. Illinois can't lie or renege on NIL deals like other colleges outside the state because Illinois will get black balled by that perspective high school coach, so damn if you do and damn if you don't. Illinois has been a winning program under Bielema and the high school players and high school coaches continue to move the goal post.
Good thing we have a giant staff to deal with that
Joel Goodson
- it's all ball bearings, nowadays
understandable, but...
not gonna lie, the prep portion of our recruiting has been deflating and disappointing. tempered somewhat by not sensing any reaches (good targets) and I like the kids we've gotten. but I can't help feeling that we've let a lot of promising kids slip through our grasp. very frustrating
I think we will flip the kid from Montini and have a very solid oline class. The lb and dline recruiting is…. Let’s see if we can close on staton, Konkey and a few others. This staff has also done very good during flip season
Yeah, that's the tough part of all of this as we've had success these past few years that is unprecedented in our modern history, and accordingly we've seen an increase in funding and backing, but certainly frustrating that the step up in finances we've had only seems to mirror the step up our competitors have had without putting a major dent in the gap between us and that next tier. I'm sure it doesn't help that our basketball team is back to national contender status either as donors may be in an either/or funding scenario where they would fund football more if they weren't funding basketball.
10 years ago we needed an absolute miracle to turn our program around, and we got it. We really did. And now here we are and the realization is that to get to the next level we're going to need another one.
TheFlyingIllini1317
- Chicago, IL
Nice offer list
I believe the resurgence of the basketball program HELPS football.
Besides Cignetti finding lightning in a bottle in 2024 & 2025, rarely do programs that play by the rules turn things around from #98 to top10 in 2-3 years.
our time is coming
This kid has a very stout offer list! Lock him up! Not very big physically but must play big!
Right now, for the 2027 class, Indiana has the 33rd rated HS class in the country, 11 commits. Zero 4-star prospects. For the 2026 class they had the 20th rated HS class. After destroying (most, but not all) of their opponents the last two years. Cignetti may be the best evaluator of talent, ever. Cignetti has been aggressive in keeping the guys that he wants that he has on roster, poaching in the portal, and then getting less expensive HS kids that they like and think they can develop. Indiana is up there in money for sure, but it appears with every thing you read they are behind other and are probably 10-15 in overall spend.
I think Bret sees that, knows his own strengths and his own history of what has worked for him, and is following suit. Emphasis on retaining who they like who they have on roster already (remove who they don't, or not pay them much), go after guys they can afford in the portal (less money than IU, so not the same level of player), and then get less expensive HS kids that they like and think they can develop and hold onto.
Often times the kids that are 4- and 5-star prospects are just the kids who are peaking physically at 15-16-17 years old, they may not get any better. And with today's world of hearing how great they are at that age; some kids coast and don't improve. They get blown up on 247 and everyone assumes they will be a star in college. Go look at the top 10 kids from the state of Illinois overall recruiting rankings each year from 2015-2025 and you would be surprised at how many didn't do much in college.
The 3-star kid that grows an inch or two when he 18 and 19 years old and keeps working, and knows he can transfer to greener pastures when he's 20-21-22 year's old...is at times the better college player at 22 or 23 years old. Cignetti just won a title with a team full of those guys, maybe not all, but guys that got better.
HS recruiting matters less now than ever before, at this exact moment. Depending on how transfer rules shake out that may change, potentially very soon.
Is the prep portion disappointing, yes, but remember, you have a very competent man at the helm with a plan.
band camp
- STL City
I know Illini picked up two JC DLmen. Seem to remember a DB and maybe a TE from JC too. Anyone have a complete list of guys we’ve picked up from JC this offseason?
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