As Chicago Catholic League rivalries go, Mt. Carmel and St. Rita may be one of the most intense. For Illinois senior receiver Frank Lenti Jr. – who won a state championship at Mt. Carmel, where his dad is the head coach – that makes this weekend’s scrimmage at St. Rita more than just a homecoming.

“Playing in St. Rita Stadium, it will feel like the old days again,” Lenti said after Illinois practiced Wednesday. “It will be a packed house from what I expect. It will feel just like home, except I won’t be wearing the brown and white.”

Lenti and the rest of the Illini will bus to Chicago for what is being promoted as the “Chicago Spring Game.” The scrimmage, scheduled to start at 1 p.m. at St. Rita High School, 7740 S. Western Ave., could be a recruiting gold mine for the Illini coaching staff and a rare chance to play close to home for the team’s Chicago natives.

“Home is very close actually, not far at all from where we’re going this Saturday,” said Anterio Jackson, a red shirt-freshman linebacker from Fenger High School. “It’s exciting to be coming back home to Chicago to represent Illinois-style.”

While the Illini expect a strong turnout from prospective players, NCAA regulations will restrict coaches from contacting any recruits while off campus. Zook said the staff plans to post signs explaining the rules. He said the coaches carefully weighed the cost and benefit of moving the session to the city but decided it was worth a try.

“Recruiting-wise, you can’t talk to the recruits there, so you have to be very, very careful. Sometimes you have to decide whether that’s a benefit over them being able to come here, spend some time with them.”

Illinois’ players recognize they may face added scrutiny to show a hometown crowd just how the team has improved over last year’s 2-10 finish. With Illinois increasing its efforts to stake a claim in the Chicago Public League’s fertile recruiting grounds, they’ll be expected to impress their family and friends – and younger former teammates.

For South Side guys like quarterback Juice Williams, who attended Chicago Vocational High School, and receiver Chris James, who graduated from Morgan Park, that pressure will be even more intense.

“Basically the entire public league is going to have their eyes on me and Juice and a lot of the other guys,” James said. “Chicago wants to see what we have to offer since we’re going up there and recruiting so much. We want to go up there and play well on offense and defense.”

James said he expects more than 50 friends and family to be in attendance, including a favorite cousin who could not make it to Champaign in the fall.

But James says his anticipation is nothing compared to Williams, his roommate. The quarterback has been talking about the game non-stop, James said, and even created a Facebook event to encourage friends to come.

“It’s basically our first time, only time to play in Chicago,” James said. “There’s going to be a lot of people there for Juice, a lot of Chicago guys. Guys in the city really want to see what we’re doing.”