It looks like the Illinois football team will be having another big visitor here in about a month.
The month of June was gearing up to be extremely important for the Illini, as 17 different recruits are planning an official visit. The weekend of June 4 has 11 players coming into town, the weekend of June 11 has four players visiting and the weekend of June 18 has two players arriving in Champaign. It now looks like you can add one more to that June 18 visit weekend.
On Monday afternoon, Micah Riley-Ducker posted on his Twitter account that he will be taking an official visit to Champaign the weekend of June 18. Why is this such a big deal? Well, Riley-Ducker would be the third-highest rated recruit visiting the Illini in the month of June.
Riley-Ducker is a 6-foot-6, 235-pound tight end from Bellevue West High School and resides in Bellevue, Nebraska. He is rated as a three-star recruit and ranked as the No. 366 player in the class of 2022 by 247Sports. He is also the No. 15 tight end in the nation and the No. 3 player coming out of Nebraska.
The offer list was extensive for Riley-Ducker. He had roughly 29 scholarship offers and all are from big-time programs. He has already scheduled a few more of his visits as well, and you can check the schedule out from the great reporting by Sean Bock of 247Sports’ Hawkeye Insider.
What would Riley-Ducker mean for the Illinois football program?
Let’s first start off with the 2022 class. Illinois is doing a great job putting this group of players together. There are already eight commitments and a national recruiting ranking of No. 27. Riley-Ducker would take that to another level, though. He would be the highest-rated recruit in the class for the Illini. He would help bolster the national standing as well.
Roster-wise, Illinois needs a lot more help at tight end. For 2021 and potentially 2022, we are set. Luke Ford and Daniel Barker are a dominating presence in the blocking and passing game. I would venture to say both tight ends will be draft picks. They are both juniors right now.
By the time 2023 rolls around, Illinois is going to need someone to be the No. 1 target at tight end. This will be Riley-Ducker’s redshirt freshman season, assuming he redshirts in 2022. As a redshirt freshman, I see him being the biggest and best target at tight end for the Illini.
The effort is being put in by the Illinois coaching staff when it comes to recruiting, and that is something I greatly appreciate. The hard work by the coaching staff is starting to pay serious dividends. Securing a player like Riley-Ducker would take us to another level as a program.