The class of 2019 isn’t buttoned up for the Illinois football team just yet.
National Signing Day is right around the corner. Most of the recruits that are left from the early signing day will be putting pen to paper to play for their respective teams. But, there is one Illini target who won’t be signing on Wednesday. That target is RaJae Johnson.
Johnson is a 6-foot-4, 215-pound wide receiver who played for the College of San Mateo this past season but is from St. Louis, Missouri. He is rated as a three-star recruit who is the No. 20 junior college player in the class of 2019 and the No. 1 wide receiver in the nation. He is also the No. 2 JUCO player to come out of Missouri as well.
Illinois has been recruiting Johnson hard since May of 2018 when they offered him a scholarship. Illinois tight ends coach and St. Louis ace recruiter, Cory Patterson, has been the main recruiter for Johnson. Will Patterson be able to snag this talented wide receiver?
Back in late December, Johnson told the Writing Illini that Illinois was still recruiting him. When asked if he was going to take an official visit there, Johnson replied that he might not because it is so close so he can just go up there on his own.
The Writing Illini checked back in with Johnson last week to see how his recruitment was going and to see where Illinois stood with him. I wanted to find out if the Illini were still recruiting him.
“…they have to see if they have any spots left,” said Johnson.
I assume that Johnson means after National Signing Day, there might not be a scholarship left for him. Illinois is down to four or five scholarships left for 2019, so it will be interesting to see who comes aboard.
Johnson isn’t in a hurry to figure out where he will end up playing football, though. The Writing Illini asked if he was committing on Wednesday.
“No, I will commit after I take some visits,” said Johnson.
Johnson hasn’t taken any official visits yet, but is trying to set them up right now. Him taking one of those official visits to Illinois is still to be determined because Champaign is so close to where he lives now.
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Adding a big wide receiver is something Illinois needs. Hopefully, when it comes time for Johnson to commit, the Illini will have a spot open on the team.