It looks like the Illinois football team is in the running for another big-time player in the class of 2020.
On Wednesday night, Lideatrick Griffin posted his top four teams on his Twitter account. The top four programs that will be vying for his commitment include Mississippi State, Maryland, Arkansas State and Illinois. This is a big recruitment considering how highly this kid is rated.
Griffin is a 5-foot-10, 170-pound wide receiver from Philadelphia High School in Philadelphia, Mississippi. He is rated as a four-star recruit who is the No. 200 player in the class of 2020 and the No. 8 athlete in the nation. He is also the No. 4 player in the state of Mississippi.
This top four came as a bit of a surprise. From the timeline on his Twitter page, it looks like Griffin committed to play for Mississippi State back on November 8, 2018. The in-state connection looked strong, but on May 8 of this year, Griffin decided to reopen his recruitment. All teams were on the table at that point.
Top 4 (Random Order)@Hayesfawcett3 pic.twitter.com/mo4v0eHeaA
— Tulu🖤 (@TuluuuuuG) November 14, 2019
More offers continued to roll in for Griffin. This kid is an Under Armour All-American, so every team in the country wants him to come to their respective program. But, on June 21, Griffin decided to come back to Mississippi State. He announced that he had recommitted to playing for the Bulldogs. His recruitment really seemed over.
The offers were still coming in for Griffin, though. One of those offers included Illinois back on October 29. Since then, it looks like he might have reopened his options considering he has a top four instead of just being committed to Mississippi State. This could be a big opportunity for the Illini to land another top player.
Illinois is going to need wide receiver help here in the next two years. We are going to lose a lot of talent after the 2020 campaign. By the start of the 2021 season, Illinois will have lost Ricky Smalling, Trevon Sidney, Dominic Stampley, Josh Imatorbhebhe, Caleb Reams and Trenard Davis. That is a big core group of our pass catchers.
Having someone like Griffin come in would elevate the wide receiver corps greatly. We could transition into a new era of him catching passes from someone like Isaiah Williams. That would be an exciting brand of football.