The Illinois football team is getting another official visit coming up in about a month.
Jakai Clark took to Twitter to announce that he will be taking an official visit to Champaign on November 3. This is a big visit considering this kid is a wanted recruit by big-time programs across the country.
Clark is a 6-foot-3, 305-pound center from Grayson High School in Loganville, Georgia. He is rated as a three-star recruit who is the No. 1393 player in the class of 2019 and the No. 11 center in the nation. He is also the No. 128 player in the talent-rich state of Georgia.
Back on April 10, 2018, Clark committed to play football for Auburn. They were able to snag him over teams like West Virginia, Louisville and Cincinnati. But, something wasn’t right with the commitment to Auburn, so Clark backed out of his pledge to the Tigers on September 3.
After Clark reopened his recruitment, Illinois pounced with a scholarship offer on September 26. Immediately, the Illini became a serious contender on his radar. Clark will be taking an official visit to Arkansas State on October 12 and then the next scheduled visit is to Illinois on November 3.
Building depth on the offensive line is paramount moving forward. Illinois just lost Reuben Unije who was a freshman offensive tackle. This hurt the depth on the line, but snagging someone like Clark would help replace a loss like Unije.
I like the size of Clark as well. Illinois needs some big boys up front, and I think Clark has the right size and athletic ability to be really good at the next level. I am not sure if he will stay a center in college but if he does, he will have time to get acclimated to the game.
Right now, Illinois has Doug Kramer as the starting center. He is only a sophomore this season. If Clark does pick the Illini, he would have a chance to come in and redshirt year one. His redshirt freshman season would be Kramer’s senior campaign. As a redshirt sophomore, Clark would be able to come in and start for the next three seasons.
Illinois has made some solid strides with potentially picking up a good player like Clark. November 3 is going to be a big weekend for this football program. I think they have a legit shot at adding on to the class of 2019 that weekend.