The Illinois football team continues to make a push to complete their class of 2018. So far, Lovie Smith and the coaching staff have done a great job.
There are many players who the coaching staff is keeping an eye on. Tayvonn Kyle is a recent recipient of a scholarship offer by the Illini and he already likes what he sees with the program.
Kyle is a 6-foot, 160-pound, athlete who mostly played wide receiver from Lowndes High School in Valdosta, Georgia. He is rated as a three-star recruit who is the No. 1652 player in the class of 2018 and the No. 127 athlete in the nation. Getting someone like Kyle would be a solid pickup because of his talent and the amount of scholarship offers he has right now. Some of the top programs vying for his commitment are Cincinnati, Maryland, West Virginia and Purdue.
I thought Illinois was a little late to the party with their scholarship offer just a week ago, but it looks like Kyle has an eye on what is happening in Champaign and appreciates the offer from the Illini.
“It’s something special,” says Kyle, “Over the last few days I’ve heard a lot about the respect and status their (Illinois) head coach has.”
From the sounds of things, Illinois has really drawn a lot from their coaching staff. Not only do they have things progressing on the field, but their recruiting game has stepped up as well. Their reputation has started to spread among recruits in the class of 2018.
Illinois isn’t out of the recruit for Kyle either. He mentioned that he just went on his first official visit this past weekend to Purdue. Conveniently, they played Illinois and ended up putting a hurting on the Illini. But, coming off that visit, Illinois still has some momentum in the Kyle recruitment.
Kyle doesn’t have any other official visits set up just yet but Champaign is one location that is on his mind.
“I want to take an official there after my season is over,” says Kyle.
Illinois seems to have made a big impact on this talented recruit. They may have offered him late in the game but in all likelihood, they will get one of his five official visits after his high school season is over. He isn’t sure what other teams will get the other three, though. He did mention West Virginia and Middle Tennessee as possibly visiting locations.
Next: 3 observations from the Purdue loss
The Illini need playmakers and that is what Kyle brings to the table. The class of 2018 has a chance to be really good and he would add to the depth in the future.