There are still some big fish left to catch for the Illinois football team when it comes to the class of 2019.
Illinois currently has 11 commitments for 2019 right now, which includes three players in the top 1000. These 11 players span throughout the country as well. Four are from Illinois, one is from Florida, three are from Texas, one is from Georgia and two are from Missouri. This is a solid class so far with more players on the horizon.
One of the players Illinois is putting the press coverage on is Isaiah Hookfin. He is a 6-foot-5, 270-pound offensive tackle from Dulles High School in Sugar Land, Texas. He is rated as a four-star recruit who is the No. 231 player in the class of 2019 and the No. 23 offensive tackle in the nation. He is also the No. 27 player in the state of Texas as well.
There are many teams who are after Hookfin. He is an extremely talented player who confirmed to the Writing Illini that he will indeed be an offensive tackle at the next level. With his 6-foot-5, athletic build, I would assume he is going to be an immediate impact guy. That is why getting him into Champaign would be a big boost to the program.
Hookfin has now solidified his official visits. He already took an official visit to Illinois back on October 13. They kicked off his visit tour. He then announced, on Thursday, three more official visits. He will be heading to Baylor this weekend. Minnesota will follow the Bears on December 7. The final official visit looks to be to Texas on December 14. He was also able to confirm with the Writing Illini that he will be making his decision on December 19 as well.
Illinois knows how important Hookfin is to their class of 2019. The offensive line played amazing this past season and they want that to continue on. That is why Coach Andrew Hayes-Stoker was down in Texas on Thursday doing an in-home visit with Hookfin. He wants to make sure Hookfin knows he is wanted in Champaign.
Getting a player like Hookfin to come to Illinois would be big for the program. He would help boost the class of 2019. Hopefully, we can pull off this commitment and continue building a great group of players for next season.