The Illini football team picked up their first players of the transfer portal cycle Sunday morning in three-star senior defensive lineman Carter Janki and junior safety Lavon Williams.
Janki earned First Team All-Ivy honors at Penn this past season after racking up four sacks, 42 tackles and nine tackles-for-loss in ten games. He also earned Second Team All-Ivy honors in 2024 and led the Quakers in sacks each of the last two seasons.
Illinois will be without a key piece of its line next year after James Thompson Jr., who earned an All-Big Ten mention this season, graduated. The team also lost sophomore defensive linemen Eli Coenen and Jeremiah Warren to the portal this cycle. Janki’s addition could prove a huge help to the unit.
Across four seasons at East Texas A&M, Williams picked up a pair of interceptions, four sacks and 139 tackles. He had his best season this past year, finishing top three on the Lions in both tackles (74) and pass breakups (7) in just ten games.
Illinois’ secondary might look pretty different next season. The team already lost junior Tyson Rooks to the portal and senior Miles Scott to graduation, while juniors Matthew Bailey and Xavier Scott could declare for the NFL Draft in the coming months.
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Williams also received an offer from James Madison but chose Illinois after making an official visit to Champaign recently.
@BrendanGallian
