Illinois Football: Illini add Blaise Sparks to a growing offensive line

The family continued to grow on Wednesday night as the Illinois football team picked up another commitment.

Blaise Sparks announced on Twitter that he has decided to commit to the University of Illinois. This is a huge commitment for the Illini in size of the player and on the depth chart as well.

Sparks is a 6-foot-7, 301-pound offensive tackle from North Fort Myers High School in North Fort Myers, Florida. He is rated as a three-star recruit who is the No. 2011 player in the class of 2020 and the No. 157 offensive tackle in the nation. He is also the No. 221 player in the state of Florida.

For being ranked that low in the class of 2020, Sparks had some solid recruiting offers. In addition to the Illini offer, he also had offers from teams like Pittsburgh, Temple and Southern Mississippi. But Illinois won out and are now getting a player who has the size to be great.

I had a chance to speak briefly with Sparks a few weeks ago and, at the time, he mentioned that Illinois and Pittsburgh were the two teams showing him the most interest. But, just last week, it was revealed that Sparks had been working with former Illinois All-American offensive lineman, Marques Sullivan. He introduced Sparks to the idea of Illinois and one thing apparently led to another.

But what made Illinois the choice? Why did Sparks pick the Illini over the Panthers? He let the Writing Illini in on his thoughts.

“It’s a great school for my education, and I really liked the coaching staff and facilities,” Sparks said, “I am pretty excited.”

Sparks cares not only about his game on the field, but he also cares about his game in the classroom. This kid has a good head on his shoulders. Illinois received a sneaky pickup when Sparks decided to pick the Orange and Blue. I think this is going to be a great decision for both parties.