UPDATED: Illinois football Signing Day 2016
Bill Cubit and the Illinois football team must replace 21 graduating seniors from the 2015 season.
February 3, 2016
Wednesday is college football’s National Signing Day, when Illinois head coach Bill Cubit and his staff see if all of their work on the recruiting trail has paid off. Check back here throughout the day for updates and bios when prospective student-athletes send in their National Letters of Intent. All rankings are according to 247sports.com.
Follow sports editor Peter Bailey-Wells (@pbaileywells), football writers Michal Dwojak (@mdwojak94) and Charlotte Carroll (@charlottecrrll) or Daily Illini Sports (@di_sports) on Twitter for more breaking news and analysis.
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Signing day live results have ended. Stay tuned to dailyillini.com for further info.
Updated 11:11 a.m.
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3-star running back Tre Nation has signed his letter of intent to play at Illinois.
The 6-foot, 220-pound running back comes from a prestigious program in Leeds, Alabama.
Nation received 13 offers, including ones from Louisville and Cincinnati.
Updated 10:57 a.m.
3-star defensive end Tymir Oliver of Wes Philadelphia Catholic has signed his letter of intent to play at the University of Illinois.
The 6-foot-3, 265 pound Philadelphia native ranks 30th in the state of Pennslyvania and 65th in his position nationwide. He received offers from Northwestern, Boston College and Pittsburg among others.
Updated 9:48 a.m.
3-star cornerback Stanley Green has signed his letter of intent to play at Illinois.
The 6-foot-1, 190-pound cornerback from East St. Louis, Illinois, committed in December after receiving an offer from Iowa State.
Green is the No. 48 player in the state of Illinois.
Updated 8:56 a.m.
2-star wide receiver MJ McGriff has signed his letter of intent to play at Illinois.
The 5-foot-8, 175-pound signee from Vero Beach, Florida, received 15 offers, including ones from Bowling Green, Ball State and Southern Florida.
McGriff was a late commit for Bill Cubit, joining Illinois on Jan. 30.
Updated 8:48 a.m.
3-star inside linebacker Dele Harding of Eastern Christian High School has signed his letter of intent to play at Illinois.
The 6-foot-1, 232 pound Harding is ranked 28th at his position nationwide. Harding was a late commit, joining the Illini on Feb. 1. He received offers from Michigan and USC and committed to the Wolverines before switching to Illinois.
3-star defensive end Brandon Jones has signed his letter of intent to play at Illinois.
The strong-side defensive end from Colombia, Missouri, remained loyal to Illinois after committing on Aug. 30.
The 6-foot-5, 235-pound recruit also had an offer from Southeast Missouri State.
Updated 8:39 a.m.
3-star defensive back Harvey Clayton Jr. of Coral Reef High School has signed his letter of intent to play at Illinois.
The Miami native also held offers from Louisville, Middle Tennessee State and Temple. He’s Florida’s 263rd-ranked prospect.
He visited Illinois on Friday.
Updated 8:12 a.m.
3-star defensive tackle Kenyon Jackson of Parkview Magnet has signed his letter of intent to play at Illinois.
The 5-foot-11, 298 pound Jackson ranks 13th overall in the state of Arkansas and 74th in his position nationwide. He will be the sole Illini from Arkansas and made the Hawgs247 All-State team, which is based on college potential.
Updated 7:51 a.m.
3-star tight end Zarrian Holcombe of Summer Creek High School has signed his letter of intent to play at Illinois.
Holcombe is ranked 38th at his position nationwide.
The 6-foot-5, 215 pound senior from Humble, Texas, decommitted from Texas A&M before committing to the Illini. He was a first-team all-district as a junior in 2014.
3-star tight end Andrew Trainer of St. Stephens and St. Agnes has signed his letter of intent to play at Illinois.
The 6-foot-7, 235 native of Alexandria, Virginia will help add some height to the tight end squad, along with fellow recruits Zarrian Holcombe and Griffin Palmer.
He ranks 65th in his position nationwide and 45th in his home state. He received offers from Yale, Harvard and Cornell.
3-star offensive guard Darta Lee of Hightower High School has signed his letter of intent to play at Illinois.
He earned AP Class 6A first-team all-state honor as a senior and was awarded first-team all-district at offensive tackle as a junior.
Lee joins four current Illini from Texas and three other recruits from the Lone Star state. The 6-foot-3, 294 guard was recruited by Mike Bellamy and ranks 84th in his position nationwide.
3-star wide receiver Dominic Thieman of St. Thomas Aquinas has signed his letter of intent to play at Illinois.
The 6-foot-3, 184 pound wide receiver from Fort Lauderdale, Florida, was recruited by offensive coordinator Ryan Cubit. Thieman will join junior safety James Crawford as St. Thomas Aquinas graduates who play the Illini.
James McCourt, St. Thomas Aquinas’ kicker, also signed with Illinois on Wednesday.
Updated 7:45 a.m.
3-star offensive lineman Eddy Fish of Lawrence Academy (Massachusetts) has signed his letter of intent to play at Illinois.
The 6-foot-6, 294 pound Fish went back and forth between Illinois and Boston College before deciding on Illinois. He was recruited by offensive line coach A.J. Ricker. Fish was a late commit, joining the Illini on Feb. 1.
He competed in the national Semper Fidelis Bowl in December.
Updated 7:40 a.m.
2-star linebacker Ayo Shogbonyo has signed his letter of intent to play at Illinois.
The 6-foot-1.5, 206-pound outside linebacker committed late to Illinois on Jan. 31.
Illinois was the Arlington, Texas, native’s only offer. He plans to major in computer engineering.
Updated 7:32 a.m.
2-star tight end Griffin Palmer has signed his letter of intent to play at Illinois.
Palmer was a Miami (Ohio) commit before he committed to Illinois on June 23. The 6-foot-5, 220-pound recruit from St. Louis received interest from Iowa, Wisconsin and Iowa State.
Updated 7:28 a.m.
3-star offensive tackle Kurt Gavin of Lincoln- Way East H.S. has signed his letter of intent to play at Illinois.
Gavin joins redshirt sophomore offensive lineman Nick Allegretti as fellow Griffins turned Illini. The offensive tackle is 6-fot-5 and 260 pounds, and received seven offers throughout the recruiting season.
He is ranked 30th overall in the state of Illinois and 94th for his position nationally.
Updated 7:09 a.m.
3-star defensive end Izon Pulley has signed his letter of intent to play at Illinois.
Pulley committed to Miami (Florida) in June, but reversed his commitment in November. He also held offers from Boston College, Connecticut and Iowa.
He’s a 6-foot-4, 250-pound pass rusher from Good Counsel, Maryland.
Updated 7:03 a.m.
3-star offensive tackle Jacob Cerny of Traverse City West has signed his letter of intent to play at Illinois.
The 6-foot-5, 280 pound Cerny was recruited by former tight ends coach Alex Golesh before he left for Iowa State. Cerny ranks 34th in the state of Michigan and 113th for his position nationwide.
Updated 6:57 a.m.
3-star kicker James McCourt has signed his letter of intent to play at Illinois.
The kicker from Fort Lauderdale, Florida, is ranked the No. 16 kicker in the Class of 2016.
McCourt received additional offers from Army and Air Force.
Updated 6:28 a.m.
2-star cornerback Evan Jones has signed his letter of intent to play at Illinois.
The 6-foot-2, 185-pound cornerback from Conyers, Georgia, received 12 offers, including from schools like Maryland, Purdue, Georgia and Louisville.
Jones took official visits at Navy and Air Force after committing to Illinois on Jan. 5.
Updated 6:25 a.m.
3-star linebacker Jake Hansen has signed his letter of intent to play at Illinois.
The 6-foot-2, 220-pound inside linebacker received offers from eight schools, including Iowa State and Central Florida.
Hansen joins a position group that recently had a change in defensive scheme and lost T.J. Neal, its leading returning tackler.
Updated 6:15 a.m.
3-star linebacker Christion Abercrombie has signed his letter of intent to play at Illinois.
The 6-foot-2, 220-pound inside linebacker from Atlanta committed at Western Kentucky in November before he received and accepted an offer on Jan. 24.
He was high school teammates with current Illini Julian Jones. Abercrombie received 17 offers, including ones from Iowa, Louisville and Tennessee.
Updated: 5:53 A.M.
3-star quarterback Eli Peters of Sandalwood H.S. signed a Big Ten tender and enrolled at Illinois for the spring semester.
Peters is ranked No. 39 in his position nationwide.
“Eli is one of the top quarterbacks in the state of Florida,” Cubit said in a press release from December. “He’s very versatile. He can throw and run, and his leadership and character will make him a great fit at Illinois. Coming in this spring will give him a head start on learning our system and will help him prepare for competition with the returning group of quarterbacks.”
3-star defensive back Trenard Davis, enrolled at Illinois for the spring semester.
Davis spent the fall at Parkland College after being a member of Illinois’ class of 2015. His cousin is Illini freshman wideout Desmond Cain.
Cain isn’t Davis’ only well-known family member — Davis is also cousins with NFL wide receiver Anquan Boldin.
Junior college transfer defensive back Ahmari Hayes enrolled at Illinois for the spring semester.
Hayes spent the last two seasons at College of San Mateo in California. Originally a native of Davis, California, he will have two years of eligibility with the Illini.
“Ahmari is a tall, athletic corner who can run. We need some size for press coverages and he did a lot of that in junior college,” Cubit said when Hayes announced his early enrollment in December. “He will be challenging for playing time this fall, so the experience he gets this spring will help him get ready for that.”
