Illinois Football: Illini pick up Crystal Ball prediction for Mississippi athlete

To start the week off right, the Illinois football team is potentially in line to add another member to the class of 2022.

The Illini currently have 10 players committed for the 2022 class but more are sure to follow. Illinois’ class ranks No. 39 in the nation and the No. 10 in the Big Ten with an average recruit rating of 0.8399. With a number of spots still open for 2022, adding a player like Ashton Hollins might not be a bad idea.

Hollins is a 6-foot-4, 170-pound athlete from George County High School and resides in Lucedale, Mississippi. He isn’t rated or ranked by 247Sports because he is a relatively unknown recruit, but don’t be surprised if this kid lands with a DI program and makes an impact.

In fact, on Sunday night, Illini Inquirer’s Jeremy Werner put in a Crystal Ball prediction for Hollins to land with the Orange and Blue. Werner has an eight out of 10 confidence that the Illini will be able to land the under-the-radar recruit.

Hollins would bring more than just size to the Illinois football team.

I do love the size that Hollins brings to the table. Having another 6-foot-4 player join the roster will only make us even more dangerous down the road. But this kid brings more to the table than just great size.

Hollins is a freak athlete. The kid is extremely quick and can move in the open field. With his size and speed, I would imagine Illinois would want to move him to the wide receiver position despite Hollins playing quarterback at the high school level.

Illinois could always use more athletic bodies on the outside. We haven’t had a true big man who could burn the secondary and go up and get the ball. I see Hollins coming into the Illinois football program and redshirting the first year so he can get his legs underneath him at the wide receiver position.

After a redshirt year, he would start to get some snaps in reserve time for the first couple of seasons. As a junior, that is when I would hope Hollins could really make an impact for the Illini. This timeline could be sped up as well if Hollins can catch onto the wide receiver role quickly.

I love Illinois bringing Hollins in for an official visit this past week. He took an official visit and the Illini offered him a scholarship. Let’s see if we can close the deal and add to the family.