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Illinois Football: Illini get one of Drake Jackson’s official visits

By Rees Woodcock

CHAMPAIGN, IL - OCTOBER 19: General view of an Illinois Fighting Illini helmet before the game against the Wisconsin Badgers at Memorial Stadium on October 19, 2013 in Champaign, Illinois. Wisconsin defeated Illinois 56-32. (Photo by Michael Hickey/Getty Images)
CHAMPAIGN, IL - OCTOBER 19: General view of an Illinois Fighting Illini helmet before the game against the Wisconsin Badgers at Memorial Stadium on October 19, 2013 in Champaign, Illinois. Wisconsin defeated Illinois 56-32. (Photo by Michael Hickey/Getty Images) /
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This weekend is turning into a pretty big deal for the Illinois football team.

The Illini basketball team – both men’s and women’s – have big-time players coming up to see the campus, talk to the coaches and get a feel for what life would be like in Champaign. This is the basic idea of an official visit and there are a few basketball players for each team visiting.

But, the Illinois sports programs aren’t done there. The Illini football team has a visitor as well. According to 247Sports, Drake Jackson is coming up this weekend – starting Friday – and is taking an official visit. This is a monster visit for Lovie Smith and the Illini.

Jackson is a 6-foot-4, 260-pound weak-side defensive end from Centennial High School in Corona, California. He is rated as a four-star recruit who is the No. 273 player in the class of 2019 and the No. 21 weak-side defensive end in the nation.

Right now, 247Sports has Jackson as a heavy lean toward USC. They have the Trojans as a 100-percent chance of snagging Jackson. But, the Illini are getting one of his five official visits, so I am not counting out the Orange and Blue.

Jackson has already been on one official visit and that was to Washington back on June 22. He is now taking one to Illinois this weekend. He doesn’t have any others set up yet.

Once again, Illinois is in the running for another west coast recruit. He has a bunch of PAC 12 teams vying for his commitment an then there is Illinois. The recruiting job by the coaching staff – most likely Hardy Nickerson and Austin Clark – is absolutely incredible. They are really doing great work getting involved in some big-time recruits out west. Now it is time to land some of these talented players.

If defensive ends see what Lovie and the coaching staff have done with the talent the program has right now, I would figure coming to Illinois would be a no-brainer. The Illini continue to develop talent on the defensive line and the squad continues to improve weekly.

Next. 5 Illini recruiting targets who could commit soon for 2019. dark

I think a win or at least being competitive against Penn State on Friday night could be a huge bargaining chip when recruiting Jackson. This would help prove the Illini are on the cusp of doing some special things. Tonight is going to be extremely important for the future moving forward.

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