Illinois Football: Grad transfer TreSean Smith backs away from Illini pledge

Lovie Smith and the Illini coaching staff took an unexpected hit to the roster on Friday morning.

Illinois football graduate transfer commit TreSean Smith decided to back away from his commitment to the Illini and has apparently reopened his recruitment.

This decision comes as a surprise to me. This late in the recruiting game and we get a player backing out is a head-scratcher. On the field, talent-wise, it also hurts the team. Coming out of LaSalle High School in Ohio, Smith was rated as a three-star recruit and a top 700 player.

During Smith’s first season with Louisville, he finished with 34 tackles and two interceptions in 13 games. In 2018, he accumulated 36 tackles in 12 games. But, as a junior, Smith was suspended the entire 2019 campaign.

After the season, Smith decided to transfer out and commit to Illinois. He made that pledge back on May 13. But, less than three months later, the safety decided to find a new home and will be leaving the Illini.

This second-thinking by Smith is going to hurt the Illinois secondary depth. I had Smith starting at safety alongside Marquez Beason. But, now that Smith isn’t there anymore, I would shift Sydney Brown into a starting role.

I have zero issues with Beason and Brown starting in the secondary, but the issue is with who will play behind those two. I now have Michael Marchese and Kendall Smith both stepping up into the second-string roles. Both have playing experience but aren’t the most polished players.

If there are any other graduate transfers out on the market right now, Illinois has a couple of scholarship spots open. It wouldn’t be a bad idea to add a couple more players just in case COVID-19 ramps up and we have to have players sit out. That is another worry when it comes to lack of depth.

Hopefully, Illinois can get through this loss and press forward. I like our starting secondary, but I am worried about depth.