Martez Wilson wanted to be No. 1 and No. 2 at Illinois. The five-star recruit from Simeon wanted his name on the first letter of intent to fly through the fax machine at Memorial Stadium yesterday. And he wanted dibs on No. 2 for his jersey.

Wilson’s fax was the second to arrive in Champaign, but before he made it official the defensive end was already laying the foundation for one of the top recruiting classes in Illinois history. A few days earlier, he talked to the Daily Illini about his decision to come to Champaign.

Daily Illini: What is it about the Illinois coaching staff that made you want to play for them?

Martez Wilson: To me they’re just real. They keep it real with you, they don’t beat around the bush. Some coaches will only tell you the good things about their schools, but Coach Zook will tell you the good and the bad. Some of these other coaches will come into your house and tell you what they think you want to hear, what they think your mom wants to hear. They only tell you the good things.

You’ve got to go with your instinct. I went with who I thought was being the most truthful with me.

DI: Some players made verbal commitments last spring, while some waited until the very last second. You committed last fall. When did you know you were ready to announce your decision?

MW: It was basically that I was ready to get it out of the way and get it over with. I wanted to get back to being a regular high school student.

It’s hard when all these coaches are constantly calling you. Like sometimes you’ve got homework to do, and they call, and they don’t know you’re busy.

DI: What is attractive about a school like Illinois?

MW: It’s the opportunity to come in and make a name for myself as a freshman. I knew I could make a name for myself, and earn a starting spot.

For one thing, I’m playing for my home state college. For another, if I was going somewhere like USC, they’d have somebody else just like me in every class, always battling for that starting position. I’m not saying I’m afraid of competition, I’m definitely not, but why not work just as hard and help out your home state school?

DI: What do you think you’ll bring to the team that other guys might not?

MW: I’m gonna bring a winning attitude. I want to have fun, but I’ll bring a serious attitude at the same time. My main goal is to play in the NFL, and I know I have to be serious if I want to get there.

DI: What’s your favorite food?

MW: Probably a gyro with cheese.

DI: Who’s your favorite NFL player?

MW: Terrell Owens. I love the way every game he plays with this attitude, this meanness. You’ve got to have that guy who acts up on your team, and I just like his whole style of play.

DI: What’s something nobody knows about you?

MW: People don’t really know how I started playing football. I had a rough childhood, I don’t like to tell people about it.

DI: Are you a big Bears fan?

MW: Oh yeah, big fan.

DI: What did you think of Sunday’s Super Bowl?

MW: I think they could have done a lot better on offense. Their defense played OK, but the offense wasn’t clicking.

DI: If you could play any other position on the field, what would it be?

MW: Probably running back, just because if you go to a running team you get the ball a lot, you get to make a lot of moves. You get to be an impact player.

DI: What are three words to describe you?

MW: Fun, serious, silly.