Littyville continues to live up to its name as the Illinois football team has a solid class of 2019 coming in.
This class continues to get stronger and will eventually turn into a legendary group of players who will bring the Illinois program back to glory once again. Or, at least, this group will make the team a perennial bowl game participant.
Whatever your goals are for this Illini bunch one thing is for sure, the recruiting trail is hot. Illinois isn’t nearly done with the class of 2019 and there are a lot more players left who have high interest in the Illini. One of those players is Fabian McCray.
McCray is a 6-foot-2, 175-pound wide receiver from Phillips Academy is Chicago, Illinois. He is rated as a three-star recruit who is the No. 800 player in the class of 2019 and the No. 13 player in the state of Illinois. Getting someone like McCray would bolster the Illini depth chart and make the offense a dangerous unit.
Illinois has made McCray a priority, and he took another visit down to Champaign this past week. This visit wasn’t just for him, though. There are many reasons to like the Illini program and one of them is the family feel. Family is important to this coaching staff.
“I really enjoyed the visit,” said McCray, “my goal was really to get my mom around campus and see what she thinks of the school.”
Mom is always right and hopefully, the Illini coaching staff made them feel right at home. They aren’t the only ones recruiting McCray to come to Champaign, though. The current players and commits are talking with him as well.
“Rickey (Smalling) has been the most active,” said McCray.
McCray has also been talking a lot with Marquez Beason. Beason – a top 60 recruit in the nation and Illinois commit – has been recruiting hard for the Illini. He has been in contact with just about every Illini target and is one of the most vocal recruits I have ever seen on Twitter.
This recruitment by current commits is important. Beason wants to get something special going in Champaign and the only way to do that is to bring in some better players. McCray would help build the wide receiver core, but it won’t be easy to snag this talented pass catcher.
There is no timetable for a decision from McCray, and he doesn’t have his official visits set up yet. But, Iowa State, Kentucky and Illinois are the three teams that have been recruiting him the hardest. He likes a little something about all three programs as well.
Iowa State – “The way the players interact with the coaches and overall, the people.”
Kentucky – “The conference and level of competition. Also, how hard they’ve been recruiting.”
Illinois – “The coaches and players. I feel really comfortable around them.”
All three teams have something special to offer McCray. He is a highly ranked recruit who has great size and athletic ability. A team would be crazy not to want this kid.
Next: Updated top 5 Illini targets for the class of 2018
Illinois has a tough recruiting road ahead of them to land McCray. The Illini have the location, the playing time and the family feel. These three things should be big factors in his recruitment. Hopefully, the Illini can close the deal and strengthen the wide receiver core for 2019.