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Illinois Football: Losing tight end TJ Ivy hurts class of 2018

By Rees Woodcock

Sep 18, 2016; San Diego, CA, USA; A detailed view of a football and pylon before the game between the Jacksonville Jaguars and San Diego Chargers at Qualcomm Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jake Roth-USA TODAY Sports
Sep 18, 2016; San Diego, CA, USA; A detailed view of a football and pylon before the game between the Jacksonville Jaguars and San Diego Chargers at Qualcomm Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jake Roth-USA TODAY Sports /
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Yesterday, the Illinois football team also received some bad news as well.

One of the players who cut his list to just his top 4, TJ Ivy, made a commitment and it wasn’t to Illinois. In fact, the Illini didn’t even make his top two when it was all said and done. In an interview with 247Sports, Ivy explained the decision.

"“It was WVU or Indiana were my top choices,” said Ivy. “Once I got there, it was no contest in my mind that this is where I wanted to be. The atmosphere all around campus was amazing. When I was there, it was unique.”"

This was a disappointing result for the recruitment of Ivy. I thought Illinois had a legit shot at this kid but they ended up being outside the top two for him. He was a three-star recruit who was the No. 1,471 player in the class of 2018 and the No. 39 player in the state of Illinois.

West Virginia is getting a big and athletic tight end in Ivy. He is 6-foot-5, 217-pounds and will run people over. With their up-tempo offense, he will blossom into a big contributor on that team in a few years.

So, now what is Illinois looking at for a tight end in the future? Well, Illinois is pretty young at tight end with redshirt freshman Griffin Palmer likely to get the starting nod this year. Honestly, though, the tight end position is still up in the air. No one has claimed the starting spot because no one has proved they earned it.

The following season could still bring in another big-time tight end. It might sound like a pipedream, but Luke Ford is available still after his decommitment from Arkansas a few weeks back. That means Illinois will have to pull him away from just about every team in the nation. He is a four-star tight end who is the No. 93 player in the nation and the No. 1 player in the state of Illinois.

Ford seems to be retweeting Illini stuff a lot and he is communicating with the class of 2018 commits for the Illini as well. I am not going to fall for the Twitter signs though, those can be misleading. But, I can always hold out hope Lovie can land Ford.

Next: Ralen Goforth could be big for 2019

The miss on Ivy hurts a little to the class of 2018 but the Illini still have a bright future. They continue to get commitments and now they just need to land a big fish or two.

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