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Illinois Football Recruiting: Abens Cajuste and Four Other Players Sign Letters of Intent

Ricky Widmer — Thu, 20 Dec 2012 05:05:23 +0000

On December 19th, the Illinois Fighting Illini had a total of five players sign their letters of intent to play for the team. Here are the five players to sign to Illinois.

Abens Cajuste

6’3″, 305 pound defensive tackle from Miami, Florida
Played at Victor Valley Community College

Last season, Cajuste recorded 40 tackles, two tackles-for-loss, 4.5 sacks, a forced fumble, and a fumble recovery.

Cajuste is ranked 56th in the state of California, 20th among defensive tackles, and 168th nationally among junior college recruits by 247Sports.

Dallas Hinkhouse

Nov 17, 2012; Champaign, IL, USA;Illinois Fighting Illini head coach Tim Beckman during the first quarter against the Purdue Boilermakers at Memorial Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Bradley Leeb-USA TODAY Sports

6’5″, 270 pound offensive tackle from Council Bluffs, Iowa
Played at Iowa Western Community College

On November 20th, Hinkhouse was named to the Midwest Football Conference First-Team All-Conference.

The three-star recruit is ranked 7th in the state of Iowa, 18th among offensive guards, and 169th nationally among junior college recruits by 247Sports.

Eric Finney

6’0″, 210 pound safety from Valencia, California
Played at College of the Canyons

Finney is a two-star recruit and has two years of eligibility left.

Zane Petty

6’1″, 185 pound safety from Sacramento, California
Played at American River Community College

Last season, Petty recorded 90 tackles, seven interceptions, and forced one fumble.

He is ranked 53rd in the state of California, 11th among safeties, and 160th nationally among junior college recruits by 247Sports.

Martize Barr

5’11″, 195 pound wide receiver from Washington, D.C.
Played at Iowa Western Community College

Barr recorded 498 receiving yards on 31 catches and scored five touchdowns in 2012.

He is ranked 12th in the state of Iowa, 26th among wide receivers, and 212th nationally among junior college recruits by 247Sports.

Make sure to follow me on Twitter @RickyWidmer.

Illinois Football Recruiting: Abens Cajuste Commits to Illinois

Ricky Widmer — Mon, 03 Dec 2012 23:13:51 +0000

The Illinois Fighting Illini picked up a big commitment from 2013 three-star defensive tackle Abens Cajuste. He choose the Illini over offers from Pittsburgh, Kansas State, New Mexico, Purdue, Rutgers, and Washington State. Arizona, Baylor, Florida International, Idaho, Indiana, Kansas, Utah State, Western Kentucky, and Western Michigan also showed interest in his recruitment.

Nov 17, 2012; Champaign, IL, USA;Illinois Fighting Illini head coach Tim Beckman during the first quarter against the Purdue Boilermakers at Memorial Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Bradley Leeb-USA TODAY Sports

Cajuste is a 6’3″, 305 pound defensive tackle from Miami, Florida, and is highly-regarded for his overall strength. He has played his last two seasons at Victor Valley Community College in California. Last season, Cajuste recorded 40 tackles, two tackles-for-loss, 4.5 sacks, a forced fumble, and a fumble recovery. Over his entire two season at Victor Valley Community College, he has recorded a total of 54 tackles.

He is currently ranked 42nd in the state of California, 17th among defensive tackles, and 144th nationally among junior college recruits by 247Sports.

Cajuste visited Illinois this past weekend. He was set to visit Kansas State this week and Pittsburgh the week after that. The Illini defense did not look very good this past season. Their defense was ranked tenth for total defense (387.6 yards per game), tenth for rushing defense (193.9 yards per game), but fifth for passing defense (193.7 yards per game).

The Fighting Illini noe have 23 commitments from the class of 2013.

Make sure to follow me on Twitter @RickyWidmer.

Check out my other writings on the Oregon Ducks blog, Autzen Zoo.

Illinois Football Recruiting: Abens Cajuste Visits Illinois

Ricky Widmer — Sat, 01 Dec 2012 07:07:02 +0000

2013 defensive tackle Abens Cajuste will be visiting the Illinois Fighting Illini this weekend. This will be his second visit and will still have two more remaining. Last weekend, he visited the Western Kentucky Hilltoppers. Illinois has a bye this week after they finished their season 2-10 after losing to Northwestern 50-14 in their season finale.

Cajuste currently has offers from sixteen teams. However, he is only interested in seven of those sixteen teams.

Sep 24, 2011; Champaign, IL, USA; Illinois Fighting Illini cheerleaders celebrate a touchdown during the second half against the Western Michigan Broncos at Memorial Stadium. Illinois defeated Western Michigan 23-20. Mandatory Credit: Reid Compton-US PRESSWIRE

His Top 7 teams are Pittsburgh, Illinois, Kansas State, New Mexico, Purdue, Rutgers, and Washington State. Pittsburgh is at the head of the pack with Illinois in second and KSU in third.

The Illini will need to make a strong case if they want to move up on Cajuste’s list. They did not have a very good season as they won only two games and did not win a single game in the Big Ten. Kansas State is ranked sixth in the current BCS Rankings and could win the Big 12 this weekend. However, Pittsburgh won five games, but did not do well in the Big East this season.

Abens Cajuste will visit Kansas State on December 7th and Pittsburgh on December 14th.

This three-star recruit from Victor Valley College is currently ranked 42nd in the state of California, 17th among defensive tackles, and 144th nationally among junior college recruits by 247Sports. The 6’3″, 305 pound recruit recorded 40 tackles, ten tackles-for-loss, 4.5 sacks, a forced fumble, and a fumble recovery at Victor Valley College this season.

Cajuste only has two years of eligibility left.

Make sure to follow me on Twitter @RickyWidmer.

Check out my other writings on the Oregon Ducks blog, Autzen Zoo.