The Illinois football team made some progress on two big-time recruits on Friday night.
Fabian McCray decided to cut his list down to just seven teams, and the Illini were included in this bunch. Joining the Illini was Purdue, Rutgers, Iowa State, Minnesota, Kentucky and Yale. This is a solid list of teams vying for a top recruit.
McCray has been a wanted man in the Illinois camp for quite some time. He is a 6-foot-1, 177-pound wide receiver from Phillips Academy in Chicago, Illinois. He is rated as a three-star recruit who is the No. 855 player in the class of 2019 and the No. 104 wide receiver in the nation. The Illini could have a hard time securing his commitment considering some of the teams on his list have had some success recruiting state of Illinois kids.
Let me first say, I think the Illini end up landing McCray. They have put a lot of work into this kid, and he would improve the team greatly. But, there are a few teams that do worry me slightly.
Minnesota is the first team that stands out. They continue to pick up commitments from the state of Illinois. They have three of the top 10 recruits from Illinois right now, according to 247Sports. Whatever Mr. Row the Boat has going on up there seems to be attractive.
Iowa State is another worry that I have. They seem to dip their toe into the state of Illinois water frequently. They are major players in a few top in-state kids and this is frustrating. They are a team to watch out for in McCray’s recruitment.
Overall, though, I think Illinois will end up landing McCray. They have been recruiting him for a long time, and he will likely get some early playing time. He is a top 1000 player as well, and this is what I look for in recruits. The more top 1000 players who commit to Illinois, the better the team will be in the future.
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Hopefully, Illinois can snag McCray and continue building. This would be the first top 15 in-state player Illinois would have snagged. He would be a huge piece to the contending puzzle.