The Illinois football coaching staff is trying to build a recruiting pipeline to many different areas in the United States.
Lovie Smith and the rest of the Illini coaches have done a nice job building the team out through the state of Florida. They currently have 19 players from the Sunshine State and most of them see a lot of snaps for the program.
Another big-time pipeline state for Illinois is Texas. The Illini currently have eight players on the roster right now from the state of Texas and some pretty big ones coming in like Marquez Beason. The ability to recruit the Lone Star State has been impressive.
One pipeline Illinois is starting to build and has developed a connection with is the state of Missouri. The Illini have four players from Missouri right now and that number will continue to grow. Illinois will be adding at least two players from the state of Missouri for the class of 2019. Both Isaiah Williams and Bryce Childress will join the Orange and Blue and will make an impact day one.
But, could there be additional state of Missouri players joining the Illinois program? There are still a few out there who are on the Illini radar right now.
Shammond Cooper is one of the biggest targets on the Illinois big board for 2019. He is a 6-foot-2 inside linebacker from St. Louis, Missouri. He is rated as a four-star recruit who is the No. 247 player the class of 2019.
Illinois has a chance at landing a player like Moses Okpala from St. Louis, Missouri as well. He is a 6-foot-7 strong-side defensive end who is rated as a three-star recruit and is ranked as the No. 504 player in the class of 2019.
Snagging a few big-time Missouri players from the class of 2019 and building that pipeline is going to only pay dividends down the road. This will help with wins on the field and it will also help with recruiting for future classes.
One future big-time player from the state of Missouri that comes to mind is Mookie Cooper. On Monday night, Cooper tweeted out that he will play with a teammate or two in college. He is from Trinity Catholic High School and Illinois currently has one player on their roster from Trinity Catholic – Larry Boyd – and two on the way – Isaiah Williams and Bryce Childress – from the class of 2019.
I will play with a teammate or 2 in college 🙂
— Mookie Cooper (@mcgetbusy5) September 25, 2018
The fact Illinois has a strong tie with Trinity Catholic would likely put them in the mix to potentially land Cooper. He is a 5-foot-9 running back who is rated as a four-star recruit and is the No. 87 player in the class of 2019.
Building the connection with the state of Missouri has already been great for the Illini. They continue to work hard on landing the top recruits in this state and things appear to be not slowing down anytime soon. The pipeline to Missouri is strong and continues to get stronger.