Illinois Football: The Ugly History of the Top 100
The new rankings came out for the class of 2018, but where does that leave the Illinois football team with the top rated recruits?
With Scout offering their opinions on these recruits, it made me want to look back at the top 100 in each class over the last decade.
The class of 2018, like previously mentioned, only has one top 100 recruit in the Scout rankings. That one recruit is Houston Griffith.
Illinois is currently in the middle of a heated recruiting battle for this legacy player. They have to compete with 24 other programs vying for his services.
The class of 2017 had two top 100 recruits.
Defensive end AJ Epenesa is ranked No. 22 in the nation and committed to Iowa. The other top 100 recruit in this class is wide receiver, Jeff Thomas.
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Thomas is No. 49 in the rankings and has yet to commit to a program. I believe Illinois really isn’t in the running anymore for him and it is looking like he could commit to Alabama.
The next class, 2016, failed to produce a top 100 player. Their highest rated recruit was Josh King at No. 168.
The state of Illinois did produce a top 100 player in the class of 2015, though.
Defensive tackle Terry Beckner was the No. 40 player that year. He committed to play football at Missouri.
The Illini did come close to snagging a top 100 player in 2015. Offensive tackle Gabe Megginson was rated No. 122 and picked Illinois.
In 2014, the state of Illinois produced three top 100 recruits. This was a stacked class that the Illini missed out on.
Linebacker Clifton Garrett was No. 24 in the nation and he committed to LSU. Linebacker Nyles Morgan was No. 34 and he went to Notre Dame.
Offensive tackle Jamarco Jones was the third top 100 recruit in that class. He decided to go to Ohio State.
Teams continued to pick off the best players from the state of Illinois in the class of 2013. There were four recruits that made the top 100 that year.
Wide receiver Laquon Treadwell was the best player and ranked No. 30 in the nation. He committed to Ole Miss. Running back Ty Isaac was the next player and he was No. 37 in the class. He went to USC.
The next two players from the class of 2013 were both offensive tackles. Kyle Bosch and Ethan Pocic committed to Michigan and LSU, respectively.
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The class of 2012 was another good one for the state of Illinois. There were three players that made the top 100 that year.
Offensive tackles Jordan Diamond was the highest rated at No. 47. He ended up committing to Auburn.
The next highest rated recruit was defensive tackle Tommy Schutt. He was No. 48 in the nation and signed on with Ohio State.
Offensive guard Dan Voltz was the third recruit in the top 100 and he was No. 99. He would commit to Wisconsin.
Fellow Big ten competitors continued to pick apart the state of Illinois in the class of 2011. That year the state had three top 100 players in the Scout rankings.
The highest rated player was offensive guard Jordan Walsh who was ranked No. 66. He committed to Iowa.
Linebacker Rodney Coe was the next highest rated recruit at No. 83 in the nation. He also committed to play football at Iowa as well.
The No. 98 player in the nation that year was center Brian Bobek. He ended up signing on with Ohio State.
The class of 2010 continued to be strong and produced three top 100 recruits from the state of Illinois.
Kyle Prater was the No. 4 player in the country that year. He is a wide receiver and ended up committing to USC.
Offensive guard Christian Lombard was the next highest rated recruit. He was the No. 62 recruit and committed to play for Notre Dame.
Iowa snagged the third top 100 recruit that year. They received a commitment from No. 66 ranked CJ Fiedorowicz, who was a tight end.
The final class that is looked at is the class of 2009. This class only produced two top 100 recruits.
Offensive guard Chris Watt was the highest rated player that year at No. 31. He decided to commit to Notre Dame.
The other recruit that year in the top 100 was defensive end Craig Drummond Jr. He was the No. 97 ranked player and committed to play for Ole Miss.
So, starting with the class of 2018 there have been 22 total top 100 recruits in the state of Illinois dating back a decade.
Out of these 22 recruits, the Illini have snagged exactly zero of them. This has to change if Illinois ever wants to start winning on a consistent basis.
Love Smith is the great hope when it comes to getting talented players. He needs to have a good year in 2016 and then that will enable him to add a winning team to his recruiting pitches.
Next: Reaction to the Scout Top 100
There is a possibility of Illinois changing this ugly trend, but I think it has to start with winning.