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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 – OCTOBER 14: Illinois Fighting Illini fans are seen during the game against the Rutgers Scarlet Knights at Memorial Stadium on October 14, 2017 in Champaign, Illinois. (Photo by Michael Hickey/Getty Images) /

5. Calvin Avery – No. 216 – Class of 2018

The impact Lovie Smith and the coaching staff has had on the recruiting game in such a short amount of time is quite impressive. They took a struggling program who couldn’t get top players and have landed some great talents. One of those talents is Calvin Avery.

Avery is a 6-foot-2, 310-pound defensive tackle from Bishop Dunne High School in Dallas, Texas. He is rated as a four-star recruit who is the No. 216 player in the class of 2018 and the No. 27 player in the state of Texas.

Illinois ended up snagging Avery over some of the biggest programs in the nation. He was expected to go to either TCU or Oklahoma, but the Illini snuck in there and got him and his teammate Kievan Myers. This duo would also help set up another commitment of a highly rated 2019 recruit as well.

Avery’s commitment sent shockwaves through the recruiting world. Lovie worked hard recruiting the state of Texas from day one and that hard work paid off. Getting someone like Avery is going to make a huge impact on the team for at least three seasons.

In 2018, I project Avery as one of the two starting defensive tackles for the Illini. He will work alongside another recruit on this list, Verdis Brown. These two will be dominant in the Orange and Blue and will start a wave of talented recruits coming into the Illinois football program.

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