Illinois Football: Illini offer 2023 linebacker Braylan Shelby

Illinois Football offers 2023 four-star linebacker, Braylan Shelby.

The Illini offseason is in full swing, and that also means that recruiting is taking a seat as one of the main priorities in the continuing rebuild of the once-storied Big Ten program.

Texas native Braylan Shelby could be one of those many building blocks in the years to come. Shelby, a four-star linebacker and multi-sport athlete, will enter his senior season as part of the class of 2023.

Shelby was offered by the Illini on January 5 and currently does not have a Crystal Ball projection at press time. He plays for Friendswood High School and was part of a varsity squad that finished 6-5 overall and 6-1 in District league play.

Notable wins included Sterling, Beaumont United, and La Porte, as all three wins were part of a six-game winning streak after the Mustangs began their 2021 campaign 0-4. The team outscored all three opponents a combined 73-17, which then led to an eventual playoff berth. The Mustangs would lose in the opening round of the postseason to Angleton, 34-18.

The loss, however, didn’t take away from Shelby’s impressive junior season. Shelby finished the year as a unanimous first-team All-District outside linebacker and secured eight sacks along the way. He also finished the season with 77 tackles, as 12 of them accounted for TFL’s.

What can Braylan Shelby bring to the Illinois football program?

If Shelby were to land in Champaign, he would bring a tremendous boost of championship potential and excellence to a program that is starving for a winner.

Bret Bielema’s SEC experience will certainly help in continuing to land priority recruits from Texas and Florida, along with other non-Midwest territories. Illinois has been known for great linebackers, such as Dick Butkus, and for Shelby to carry on that legacy would only help the pipeline of recruits in the years to come.

But for now, though, his recruitment is one to keep an eye on over the next year. Additional Big Ten schools such as Indiana, Penn State, and Purdue are also in the mix.