While the Illinois football team continues to recruit for the class of 2018, one of their biggest targets has set a commitment date.
Last night on Twitter, Verdis Brown announced he will be making a decision December 22 on where he will be playing football for 2018. He will be making the decision at Robert A. Black Elementary School.
For everyone who is wondering I’ll be making my decision on December 22nd at Robert. A. Black elementary
— Verdisbrown©️4️⃣6️⃣ (@verdisbrown) December 12, 2017
At 12:00⬛️🔶. I’ll be answering all questions you have there. If interested please DM me for address. Thanks
Brown is a four-star offensive center from Chicago, Illinois. He is ranked as the No. 199 player in the class of 2018 and the No. 2 center in the nation. He transferred down to IMG Academy to finish up his high school football and get better notoriety and training. His 6-foot-4, 290-pound size is important for any team, especially for the Illini.
Originally, Brown committed to Florida State back on July 14. The Seminoles then had their head coach, Jimbo Fisher, leave for Texas A&M. Brown then reopened his recruitment.
Before Brown reopened his recruitment, he took an official visit to Florida State on October 6 and Illinois on October 28. Since the announcement that he isn’t committed to the Seminoles anymore, he took an official visit to Minnesota this past weekend and will be visiting Missouri this upcoming weekend.
So, when you lay it all out, it looks like Brown will be deciding between Illinois, Minnesota, Missouri and Florida State. I am not going to count out the Seminoles because I have a feeling new head coach Willie Taggart has talked to him once or twice since taking over the reins.
I doubt Minnesota is going to be a huge threat here. I am going to say Missouri and Florida State are Illinois’ two biggest threats to snag Brown. But, I am still going to give the Illini the edge here. He kept Illinois alive the entire time and even took an official visit there when he was committed to Florida State.
Illinois is also favored heavily by the prediction people at 247Sports. The only people to not change their prediction from the Seminoles to the Illini are the ones who last updated it when he committed to Florida State back in July. Everyone else has Illinois as the landing spot.
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No matter what, we will all find out where Brown is going on December 22. If it is Illinois, that is fantastic for the program. If it is somewhere else, I wish him nothing but the best. If Illinois can seal up this top-level player, though, the future would be extremely bright.