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Illinois Football: Top 10 highest rated Illini recruits since 2010

By Rees Woodcock

26 December 2014: Illinois Fighting Illini tight end Jon Davis (3) catches the football over Louisiana Tech Bulldogs defensive back Adairius Barnes (21) during the game between the Illinois Fighting Illini and the Louisiana Tech Bulldogs at the Zaxby's Heart of Dallas Bowl in the Cotton Bowl Stadium in Dallas, Texas. (Photo by Matthew Pearce/Icon Sportswire/Corbis via Getty Images)
26 December 2014: Illinois Fighting Illini tight end Jon Davis (3) catches the football over Louisiana Tech Bulldogs defensive back Adairius Barnes (21) during the game between the Illinois Fighting Illini and the Louisiana Tech Bulldogs at the Zaxby's Heart of Dallas Bowl in the Cotton Bowl Stadium in Dallas, Texas. (Photo by Matthew Pearce/Icon Sportswire/Corbis via Getty Images) /
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CHAMPAIGN, IL – NOVEMBER 11: Head coach Lovie Smith of the Illinois Fighting Illini is seen during the game against the Indiana Hoosiers at Memorial Stadium on November 11, 2017 in Champaign, Illinois. (Photo by Michael Hickey/Getty Images) /

8. Verdis Brown – No. 343 – Class of 2018

Lovie Smith and the Illinois coaching staff continued building their team through the class of 2018. They needed more help on the lines and plucking a player like Verdis Brown from this class was a great get.

Brown is listed as a 6-foot-3, 294-pound offensive center from IMG Academy in Bradenton, Florida. He is rated as a four-star recruit who is the No. 343 player in the class of 2018 and the No. 6 center in the nation. He isn’t going to be playing on the offensive line, though.

While Brown committed and is listed as a center, he will enter the program and switch over to the defensive side of the ball. Lovie and the Illini staff will develop him as a defensive tackle. Illinois is going to have one great defense this upcoming season and into the future.

It wasn’t easy getting Brown to come to Champaign, though. He was originally committed to play football for Florida State but, after Jimbo Fisher left for Texas A&M, Brown reopened his recruitment and wanted to come back home. He then committed to Illinois.

Having so much coaching experience on the Illinois staff helped with Brown’s recruitment, but the thing that got him to stay was the location. He is from Chicago, Illinois but spent the last year at IMG Academy to develop and get noticed. He wanted to come back home and blaze a trail for the future football players in the state of Illinois.

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