Illinois Football Recruiting Top 5 In-State Recruits in 2016
Illinois football recruiting had a great run to finish off the class of 2015. The likes of Ke’Shawn Vaughn, Jamal Milan, and Gabe Megginson will all be key contributors for the Illini over the next four or so years but these building blocks can only take the team so far, what about the 2016 class?
As a fan I would love for Illinois to reel in the top recruits every year but I know the truth behind that and it will never happen. Something that can happen though is the Illini can keep homegrown talent in-state.
Here are the Top 5 recruits that the Illini need to recruit hard so that they don’t leave the state of Illinois.
Kentrail Moran is a high 3-star running back in the 2016 recruiting class that is in high demand. Currently Michigan is in the lead according to 247sports.com but there is still a lot of time in his recruitment.
Moran is the 7th best player in the state of Illinois and the 25th best running back in nation.
One thing Illinois has going for them is that they were the first “Power 5” school that offered Moran a scholarship. He has also visited the Illinois campus four times which is the most out of any other school that is recruiting him.
Moran would be a great pickup considering Josh Ferguson is done after this season.
Illinois has had a great history of putting defensive lineman into the NFL and Naquan Jones could be one of those in the future if he decides to keep his talents close to home.
Jones is a 4-star defensive tackle out of Evanston, Illinois. He is rated as the 6th best player in the state of Illinois and the 25th best defensive tackle in the nation.
A player of his size would enable the Illini to shut down the run and become a top defensive team in the Big Ten.
Illinois was the first to offer Jones back in June of last year but then other big schools caught on as well. He has gathered up 10 total offers so far through his young recruiting experience. Jones also visited Illinois in November so hopefully that is a good sign that he still has interest in the Illini.
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This might be one of the most “football names” I have ever heard. Tuf Borland, an outside linebacker from Bolingbrook, Illinois, is being sought after by the Big Ten.
Borland is rated as the 2nd best player in the state of Illinois and the 12th best outside linebacker in the nation. Right now 247sports.com has Wisconsin getting his skills but with all of these players, their recruitment is wide open still.
Borland currently has five scholarship offers and they are all from the Big Ten. Illinois is one of his offers but it looks like they will have to convince him to pull away from the Badgers.
Having more stability in the middle would be great for the Illinois defense. A player with the name Tuf would be a great addition.
Noah Turner is going to be a difference making tight end that hopefully Illinois has the chance to display in a couple of years.
Turner is rated as the 8th best player in the state of Illinois and the 16th best tight end in the nation. He is pegged to be going to Michigan State according to 247sports.com but he still has a lot of recruiting activity going on.
Turner has 9 scholarship offers right now but I am sure more are going to be coming in soon.
Illinois might have a chance at Turner’s commitment too. He attended their camp back in June 2014 and that same day they offered him a scholarship. Since then he has taken a visit to the Illinois campus and has another one scheduled for March of this year.
Having a bruiser at the tight end position will help every aspect of the offense.
Daniel Joseph is very early in his recruitment process so he does not have any rankings and no predictions on where he is going yet.
Joseph is rated by some other sites as a high 3-star defensive end but something tells me as the recruiting process continues that the 3-star will soon turn into a 4-star.
Joseph already has 10 scholarship offers from some big time schools. The most recent of offers was by Stanford just a few days ago. He is going to be a highly touted recruit that hopefully will choose Illinois at the end of the process.
The Illini could use another defensive lineman. They didn’t focus on the defensive side of the ball in the 2015 recruiting class so they have to load up in 2016.