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Illinois Football: Reggie Love announces commitment to Illini

By Rees Woodcock

CHAMPAIGN, IL - OCTOBER 13: Illinois Fighting Illini helmets sit on the sidelines as players warm up for the Big Ten Conference college football game between the Purdue Boilermakers and the Illinois Fighting Illini on October 13, 2018, at Memorial Stadium in Champaign, Illinois. (Photo by Michael Allio/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
CHAMPAIGN, IL - OCTOBER 13: Illinois Fighting Illini helmets sit on the sidelines as players warm up for the Big Ten Conference college football game between the Purdue Boilermakers and the Illinois Fighting Illini on October 13, 2018, at Memorial Stadium in Champaign, Illinois. (Photo by Michael Allio/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) /
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The Illinois football team added two big-time players to the class of 2020 on Sunday afternoon.

The nightcap for the Illini was nonother than Reggie Love III. This commitment by Love is huge for so many reasons. One of the big ones is the fact Reggie Corbin is going to be gone after the 2019 campaign, and Illinois is going to need a solid replacement.

Love is a 5-foot-10, 190-pound running back from Trinity Catholic High School in St. Louis, Missouri. He is rated as a four-star recruit who is the No. 337 player in the class of 2020 and the No. 22 running back in the nation. He is also the No. 6 player in the state of Missouri as well.

This get by Lovie Smith and the Illini coaching staff will send shockwaves through the recruiting world. Love has scholarship offers from big-time programs. He has offers from Wisconsin, Penn State and Notre Dame, just to name a few. But, he picked the Illini. That is how much this place feels like home.

Getting Love also continues Illinois’ tear through the state of Missouri as well. In 2017, the Illini were able to snag two top 10 Missouri recruits in Larry Boyd and Tony Adams. In 2019, the Illini snagged three of the top 10 state of Missouri recruits in Isaiah Williams, Shammond Cooper and Moses Okpala. Illinois now has the No. 6 player in the state of Missouri in Love, and they are favorites to land the No. 2 player in Mookie Cooper as well.

The news that Love picked Illinois is so big for the program. Honestly, behind Corbin, Illinois doesn’t have a proven running back. I am most comfortable with Mike Epstein, but he is going to be a senior in 2020 anyways. That means Love is going to be going in and will, likely, be the lead man by his sophomore campaign. That is exciting to think about.

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Illinois landed a great one in Love. This kid is going to be special for the Orange and Blue. He is going to be able to do great things in Rod Smith’s offense. The future is bright for this program.

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