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Illinois Football: Illini in the running for WR Sterling Galban

By Rees Woodcock

CHAMPAIGN, IL - NOVEMBER 16: A general view of Memorial Stadium as the Ohio State Buckeyes take on the Illinois Fighting Illini on November 16, 2013 in Champaign, Illinois. Ohio State defeated Illinois 60-35. (Photo by Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images)
CHAMPAIGN, IL - NOVEMBER 16: A general view of Memorial Stadium as the Ohio State Buckeyes take on the Illinois Fighting Illini on November 16, 2013 in Champaign, Illinois. Ohio State defeated Illinois 60-35. (Photo by Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images) /
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The class of 2018 is starting to shape up for Lovie Smith and the Illinois football team.

The second half of July and the start of August has been great for the Illini fan base and the team. They snagged a talented linebacker and safety from Florida and picked up a great defensive tackle from Texas. Lovie isn’t done recruiting the Lone Star State either.

One player to keep an eye on that has an interest in the Illini is Sterling Galban. He is a 5-foot-10, 180-pound wide receiver from Burnet High School in Burnet, Texas. He is rated as a three-star recruit who is the No. 1,134 player according to 247Sports and the No. 1,209 player according to Scout in the class of 2018.

In an interview with Greg Powers of Scout yesterday, Galban talked about his recruitment and when the decision will come down. He announced he will be making a commitment on August 26 and named TCU, Iowa State, Texas Tech, Nevada and Illinois as the teams in the mix for his pledge.

The first team that stands out in this bunch is Iowa State. They were the team who Galban committed to originally but more offers started to pour in, and he decided to decommit back on July 5. This opened his recruitment back up and now Illinois is in the running to land this underrated recruit.

There is a lot to love about Galban on the football field. Let’s start by the fact – mentioned in the Powers article – that he has been clocked running the 40-yard dash in 4.43-seconds. That is a great number for an NFL wide receiver let alone someone coming out of high school.

I also really like Galban’s route running ability. This kid runs great routes and will be an asset, likely, in the slot for Garrick McGee. I could see him running up his touchdown total in the red zone to over seven per season.

Next: 4 class of 2018 recruits who would start year one

Getting a player like Galban not only helps with depth at wide receiver, but it also gives the program another quick weapon to use. Illinois has been missing this type of speed for a while now and things could be changing here in the next few years.

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