One of the biggest Illinois football targets for the class of 2018, Dallas Craddieth, made 1st Team All-Conference as a safety and won the Suburban North Defensive Player of the Year.
Craddieth is the starting safety for Hazelwood Central High School who finished the regular season with an 8-1 record and is now in the Elite 8 of the Missouri High School football state championship. They have been one of the most dominant teams in 6A football giving up only 13.2 points per game which includes giving up a total of 12 points in two playoff games so far.
Having a player like Craddieth on the field is huge for this Hazelwood ball club. He is one of the best players at his position in the nation, and he is someone colleges are drooling over. Right now, Craddieth is listed as a high three-star recruit who is the No. 491 player in the class of 2018 and the No. 36 safety in the nation.
The recruitment of Craddieth has been interesting to watch. But, he ended up cutting his list down to just six teams on September 4. Those six programs were Iowa, Minnesota, Nebraska, Indiana, Vanderbilt and Illinois. His recruitment is starting to come down to crunch time, though, and he is just trying to sort some things out as the season finishes up here in a few weeks.
“It’s been pretty good,” says Craddieth who was asked about how his recruitment was going so far, “I’m still trying to find the right dates to take my officials.”
A college athlete is allowed five official visits during the recruitment process, so Craddieth has to choose wisely. It looks like he has three he wants to set up and the other two are still in question right now.
“Illinois, Nebraska, Iowa, and I am still trying to decide the last two,” said Craddieth.
Illinois fans should be excited about Craddieth wanting to visit Champaign and using one of his five official visits. That means the Illini are in his top five and they have a legit shot at landing this talented defensive back.
But, one of the worries for some fans is if recruits will still be attracted to the program despite the losing. That question was answered when I asked Craddieth about what stands out about Illinois right now.
“Just their coaching staff and how decent they’ve played in the conference,” Craddieth said, “They might not be winning but they’re a few plays away from possibly winning.”
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It sounds like Craddieth sees how hard the Illini are fighting and how close they are to winning some football games. To continue getting better, this program is going to need more talent and a player like Craddieth is exactly what they are looking for.