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Illinois Football: Illini recruits who would move the needle

By Rees Woodcock

IOWA CITY, IOWA- OCTOBER 07: Head coach Lovie Smith of the Illinois Fighting Illini before the match-up against the Iowa Hawkeyes on October 7, 2017 at Kinnick Stadium in Iowa City, Iowa. (Photo by Matthew Holst/Getty Images)
IOWA CITY, IOWA- OCTOBER 07: Head coach Lovie Smith of the Illinois Fighting Illini before the match-up against the Iowa Hawkeyes on October 7, 2017 at Kinnick Stadium in Iowa City, Iowa. (Photo by Matthew Holst/Getty Images) /
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CHAMPAIGN, IL – NOVEMBER 25: A Illinois Fighting Illini fan cheers during the game between the Illinois Fighting Illini and the Northwestern Wildcats on November 25, 2017 at Memorial Stadium in Champaign, Illinois. (Photo by Quinn Harris/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
CHAMPAIGN, IL – NOVEMBER 25: A Illinois Fighting Illini fan cheers during the game between the Illinois Fighting Illini and the Northwestern Wildcats on November 25, 2017 at Memorial Stadium in Champaign, Illinois. (Photo by Quinn Harris/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) /

290-pounds. VERDIS BROWN. 4*. . 6-foot-4

A little over a year ago, one of the big recruits that I had my eye on was Verdis Brown. He was a big offensive lineman from Chicago, Illinois. He was going to help the Illini get back on the map and be competitors in the Big Ten once again.

Brown’s recruitment blew up and the big boys of the college football world were after him. He is rated as a four-star recruit who is the No. 199 player in the class of 2018 and the No. 2 center in the nation, so why wouldn’t teams be drooling over this kid?

Florida State was the team to beat for Brown and he ended up committing to the Seminoles on July 14. But, he always kept the Illini on his list and after he took an official visit to Florida State on October 6, he then took one to Illinois on October 28.

Just a few weeks ago, Brown ended up decommitting from Florida State after their head coach left for Texas A&M. Now there are a few schools vying for Brown’s commitment and one of them is Illinois. He also took an official visit to Minnesota this past weekend and will be visiting Missouri this upcoming weekend.

Illinois needs more offensive line help and Brown would be huge for the future. Get someone like him into the program and the offense will flourish. He is an extremely important piece.

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