Illinois Football: Illini tapping into state of Missouri recruiting gold mine

I think it is fair to say the Illinois football team has had some success in the state of Missouri when it comes to recruiting.

Lovie Smith and the Illini coaching staff have been able to snag some talented players out of Missouri over the last three classes. In the class of 2017, both Larry Boyd and Tony Adams were solid gets by the Illini. Boyd was the No. 5 player in the state and Adams was the No. 8 player in the state and both were top 1000 recruits.

The class of 2018 was a little rough, though. The Illini were so close to a few big-time targets that year, but those recruits decided on greener pastures. Illinois is rebounding nicely from that skunked 2018 class with their class of 2019.

So far, Illinois has the best player in the state of Missouri for 2019, Isaiah Williams. He is the No. 105 player in the country and a quarterback who will come in and make an immediate impact. Illinois might not be done there, though. The Illini are still in the running for Shammond Cooper and Moses Okpala as well.

Cooper is a four-star linebacker who is the No. 5 player in the state. He is making his final decision between four schools – Oklahoma, Texas, Missouri, Illinois – on January 3 at the Under Armour All-American Game. Okpala is a three-star defensive end who is the No. 11 player in the state of Missouri. His decision is coming sometime this week. Both of these players would be huge pickups for the Illini.

Illinois can continue building their program into a winner if they can continue landing these talented players from the state of Missouri. The class of 2020 is another huge group of talented recruits the Illini are after as well.

The top 25 players in the state of Missouri for 2020 are all in the top 1000 in the nation. This should be a great class for the Illini if they can get at least three of these recruits. There are already players eyeing the Orange and Blue from this class too.

I really like James Frenchie. The kid is quick and can make people miss at the wide receiver position. He is the No. 3 player in the state. Kevon Billingsley would be a great pickup as well. He is the No. 4 player in the state. I can continue on with players like Jalen St. John (No. 13), Jordan Smith (No. 18), Traevon Williams (No. 19) and TJ Rush (No. 20) all could be possibilities for this Illinois football team.

While it would be nice for the Illini to be able to snag more of the top talent in the state of Illinois, hitting the state of Missouri hard with recruiting isn’t a bad idea. The success we have had has been nice, but the future holds a lot of talented players from this state. Let’s continue tapping into the gold mine that the state of Missouri provides.