Illinois Football: Illini bolster offensive line with Marcus Harper commitment
The first commitment of the day for the Illinois football team was a big-time in-state recruit.
Marcus Harper took to Twitter to announce that he has officially committed to play football for the University of Illinois. Offense has been a huge focus for the Illini and getting someone like Harper will help solidify the effectiveness of the offense for the foreseeable future.
Harper is a 6-foot-4, 290-pound offensive guard from Simeon High School in Chicago, Illinois. He is rated as a three-star recruit who is the No. 596 player in the class of 2020 and the No. 31 guard in the nation. He is also the No. 7 player in the state of Illinois as well.
This commitment means a lot to the Illinois program and to me as a fan. In-state recruiting has not been the easiest thing for the Illinois football team. This has been one of the flaws that I have noticed in the ability of the coaching staffs we have had recently. But, getting someone like Harper to commit could change the fortunes of recruiting in-state kids.
Harper was a highly recruited player as well. He had offers from teams like Kansas State, Oregon and Purdue, among others. The fact he wanted to stay home and play for the state program is going to win over a ton of fans. He is also going to help this program in the near future as well.
The offensive line is a big worry of mine. If you don’t have an offensive line, you don’t have an offense. Now that Harper is coming aboard, Illinois is going to have more options in the future. The offensive line was projected to be pretty thin the next few seasons if something didn’t change. It looks like Harper wanted to be a part of this program, and he will get every chance to see early playing time for the Orange and Blue.
dark. Next. Reggie Love announces commitment to Illini
Illinois snagged two big commitments today for offensive coordinator Rod Smith. Reggie Love was a big running back commitment. He is going to be carrying the ball a lot in his career. Harper is going to be opening holes for him. This offense is going to be something special.