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Illinois Football: Top 5 recruiting targets left for Illini in 2019

By Rees Woodcock

LINCOLN, NE - OCTOBER 01: Head coach Lovie Smith of the Illinois Fighting Illini watches warmups before the game against the Nebraska Cornhuskers at Memorial Stadium on October 1, 2016 in Lincoln, Nebraska. (Photo by Steven Branscombe/Getty Images)
LINCOLN, NE - OCTOBER 01: Head coach Lovie Smith of the Illinois Fighting Illini watches warmups before the game against the Nebraska Cornhuskers at Memorial Stadium on October 1, 2016 in Lincoln, Nebraska. (Photo by Steven Branscombe/Getty Images) /
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CHAMPAIGN, IL – SEPTEMBER 29: Illinois Fighting Illini fans are seen in the tailgating area before the game against the Nebraska Cornhuskers at Memorial Stadium on September 29, 2017 in Champaign, Illinois. (Photo by Michael Hickey/Getty Images) /

3. Shammond Cooper

One of the toughest players for the Illini to snag is Shammond Cooper. He is a superstar player with so much high-level recruiting attention. I would be shocked if he picked the Illini, but they are still alive in the running at least.

Cooper is a 6-foot-2, 190-pound inside linebacker from Trinity Catholic High School in St. Louis, Missouri. He is rated as a four-star recruit who is the No. 246 player in the class of 2019 and the No. 6 player in the state of Missouri. Getting Cooper will be a real challenge for this Illinois staff.

Right now, Cooper has scholarship offers from just about every big-time program in the country. Oklahoma is the favorite to land him but Illinois is by no means out of the running. Clemson and Notre Dame are apparently up there as well, according to 247Sports.

Illinois has some things going for them in the recruitment of Cooper. The location isn’t terribly far away from where he lives. That is a bonus for his friends and family. He also has the comfortability of knowing his former high school coach, Cory Patterson. He is the Illini tight ends coach now. That is a big draw for the Illini.

Will Illinois snag Cooper? Probably not because of all the big-time programs, but they aren’t out of it. I have seen weirder things. Illinois has a lot of recruiting momentum and Cooper visited the program in February. Don’t count the Illini out.

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