The Illinois football program was busy over the last week offering scholarships to players for the future.
It is not a secret that the state of Texas has been good to the Illini since Lovie Smith took over the program. Lovie’s hiring of wide receivers coach Andrew Hayes-Stoker has really helped solidify their recruiting efforts in this talent-rich state. The Illini are also starting to target class of 2022 recruits, like Justin Medlock, from the Lone Star State.
Medlock is a 6-foot-1, 195-pound outside linebacker from Manvel High School in Manvel, Texas. He isn’t rated or ranked by the recruiting sites because he is from the class of 2022, which is a little too far away for the rankings.
Illinois is in early on this kid, though. They are actually his first scholarship offer. But, believe me, we won’t be his last by any means. I would imagine Medlock will continue to rack up offers from every big program across the country including some in-state teams.
With Medlock just coming off his freshman campaign, it is really tough to see what this kid can do on the football field. He still has three years left in the high school ranks, which means he is only going to continue to develop. The fact he is already 6-foot-1, 195-pounds is a bonus. He is built like a player coming into the college ranks let alone someone entering his sophomore year.
Since there isn’t much to go off of right now, I have to trust what the Illinois coaching staff is seeing. Coach Stoker is on top of things in the state of Texas and Lovie knows linebackers. I would take a bet that they think this kid has something that is special to be offering his this early in his career.
I love this offer by the Illini. Being the first ones to come in with an offer on a kid is always a plus. Let’s keep an eye on how this kid’s career progresses over the next few seasons.