Illinois Football: Virginia offensive lineman locks in Illini official visit

Things are a bit crazy right now for the Illinois football team as visit season is in full force.

Roughly 21 recruits have been to Champaign for an official visit with a myriad of other talented players visiting in the coming weeks. One of the new names on the visit list for the Illini is Isaiah Montgomery.

Montgomery is a 6-foot-5, 280-pound offensive tackle from Landstown High School and resides in Virginia Beach, Virginia. He is rated as a three-star recruit and ranked as the No. 781 player in the class of 2022. He is also the No. 69 offensive tackle in the nation and the No. 19 player coming out of Virginia.

It looks like Montgomery is starting to come closer to a decision, as he is starting to set up official visits. Pittsburgh got the first visit this past weekend. The only other visit the talented offensive lineman has right now is to Illinois on June 25.

Illinois football is building the offensive line into a powerhouse.

A commitment from Montgomery would be big for the Illinois football program. This upcoming official visit is one they need to nail because Bret Bielema seems to be building the offensive line into something special.

As of right now, the Illini have three offensive linemen committed for 2022. Two of the three offensive linemen are ranked inside the top 1000 – Joey Okla at No. 754 and Hunter Whitenack at No. 956. Clayton Leonard isn’t too far behind at No. 1314.

Since 2010, Illinois has only had four recruiting classes that had at least two top 1000 offensive linemen. Those four classes are the class of 2011, 2015, 2018 and 2022. That is it. So, having two top 1000 offensive linemen already committed with more potentially on the way is a big deal.

Montgomery’s official visit is huge for the Orange and Blue. If we could secure another top 1000 offensive lineman for 2022, then we could really have something special forming. Bielema has this program heading in the right direction.