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Illinois Football: 3 reasons the Illini need to land Willie Shaw III

By Rees Woodcock

IOWA CITY, IA. - NOVEMBER 23: The Illinois block I flag as seen during a Big Ten Conference college football game between the Illinois Fighting Illini and the Iowa Hawkeyes on November 23, 2019, at Kinnick Stadium, Iowa City, IA. Photo by Keith Gillett/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
IOWA CITY, IA. - NOVEMBER 23: The Illinois block I flag as seen during a Big Ten Conference college football game between the Illinois Fighting Illini and the Iowa Hawkeyes on November 23, 2019, at Kinnick Stadium, Iowa City, IA. Photo by Keith Gillett/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) /
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CHAMPAIGN, ILLINOIS – NOVEMBER 02: Head coach Lovie Smith of the Illinois Fighting Illini on the field after a win over the Rutgers Scarlet Knights at Memorial Stadium on November 02, 2019 in Champaign, Illinois. (Photo by Justin Casterline/Getty Images) /

2. In-state recruiting presence

I love the Illinois coaching staff. I think they have come into a program that was reeling after their previous coach did some dirty things and the roster was essentially gutted after the 2015 campaign. But there is one glaring issue with the current coaching regime.

The in-state recruiting has been severely lacking since Lovie Smith has taken over. This has been noticed by many fans and even some in-state coaches. But snagging someone like Willie Shaw III would help in growing that in-state recruiting base.

Brother Rice is a high school program that Illinois has been able to develop a nice relationship with over the last few years. The first big recruit out of there for Lovie was wide receiver Ricky Smalling. He is going to be a senior this season and should do some big things.

Illinois was also able to pull Evan Kirts out of Brother Rice from the class of 2019. He is an offensive lineman who redshirted last year but should be able to contribute big-time snaps this season.

The Illini now have a chance to add a third Brother Rice player to the mix. Granted, Shaw wouldn’t play with Smalling because he is a senior, but this high school produces talented recruits and Shaw would be the next man up. This would be a huge get for the Illini and one that would continue to build their recruiting base in the state of Illinois.

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