Signing day in sight for UI

 

 

By Mike Theodore

Last season Illinois head coach Ron Zook turned in an impressive slew of high school recruits, despite two consecutive unimpressive seasons at the helm.

But today, national signing day, Zook will have the benefit of a successful Rose Bowl season to show recruits winning results for the first time while in Champaign.

“Now there’s not just hope,” recruiting analyst Tom Lemming said. “There’s some real substance to their recruiting. They can now point and say, ‘Hey, we went to the Rose Bowl for the Big Ten.’ Before that all they could say was, ‘Hey, come in and play right away, we got to get better.’ Now they have gotten better so recruiting can pick up naturally.”

But a successful Big Ten campaign and a trip to a BCS bowl does not guarantee recruiting or future on-field success. Look no further than the Illini’s previous BCS appearance at the 2001 Sugar Bowl. Then-head coach Ron Turner was unable to build upon the triumphant season, and Illinois spiraled downward, which led to his firing after the 2004 season.

“Everybody right now figures it’s a foregone conclusion they’re going to recruit great every year and keep winning, but you’ve got to make sure you take advantage of something like (the Rose Bowl),” Lemming said.

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Dunbar High School product Reggie Ellis, one of eight Illinois recruits to graduate high school early and enroll in the spring semester, said the Illini’s success this season is what ultimately sealed his recruitment, not necessarily offensive coordinator Mike Locksley’s Washington, D.C. recruiting pipeline, which brought former Dunbar standouts and current Illini players Arrelious Benn, Vontae Davis and Nate Bussey.

“(The Rose Bowl) was a big part of my recruitment,” Ellis said. “They went 9-3 (in the regular season). They were not projected to go what they went.”

Looking beyond this year’s signing day, last weekend Illinois coaches brought in prospects from the class of 2009 to visit during a basketball game at Assembly Hall.

“(The Rose Bowl) will affect the 2009 (class) for sure,” Lemming said. “This class was almost done already. The effect of this class is more from beating Ohio State because in the Rose Bowl they didn’t look so good.”

Today when the fax machines stop, Illinois is expected to announce another strong class with six four-stars according to Scout.com, and a legitimate chance at Jacksonville, Fla., native Jamie Harper, a five-star running back. Harper will announce his decision today on ESPNU at 11:20 a.m. Clemson, Miami, Florida State and Illinois remain in the sweepstakes. Illini coaches visited with Harper last Wednesday in Florida to give the acclaimed prospect their final pitch.

The expected class is highlighted by defensive end and Florida native Corey Liguet, who reportedly turned down offers from LSU, Florida State and Miami. Ohio native and four-star wide receiver Cordale Scott will give quarterback Juice Williams another dangerous outside target. Scott attends Glenville High School in Cleveland. The same school produced Ohio State stars and eventual NFL talent Ted Ginn, Jr. and Troy Smith.

“The recruiting has to be positive, aggressive and relentless,” Lemming said. “These guys are the guys that can do it; as long as they can keep Mike Locksley happy and a couple of the other guys happy, they’re in business.”