Illinois Football: Damon Walters would help Illini grow in-state recruiting

The battle for in-state recruiting dominance continues, as the Illinois football team has offered a four-star from Bolingbrook.

One of the main goals for Bret Bielema and his coaching staff is to establish better roots in the state of Illinois. The previous Illini regime essentially ignored in-state recruiting, but the Bielema era has done a great job in snagging local kids in his first class.

11 state of Illinois recruits pledged from the class of 2022. That number will, hopefully, continue to stay steady or rise in the 2023 class. A new name the Illini are now targeting for 2023 is Damon Walters.

Walters is a 6-foot-1, 175-pound safety from Bolingbrook High School and resides in Bolingbrook, Illinois. He is rated as a four-star recruit and ranked as the No. 320 player in the class of 2023. He is also the No. 28 safety in the nation and the No. 6 player coming out of the state of Illinois.

The recruitment of Damon Walters will not be easy for the Illinois football team.

Illinois is just one of the most recent offers Walters has received. He has roughly 14 scholarship offers on the table right now, and they are all pretty big programs.

As of right now, Walters’ recruitment seems open. I would say the main competition for Illinois in this recruitment based on the history of the area is Northwestern, Notre Dame, Wisconsin, and Iowa. I know some of those teams haven’t offered yet, but they have dominated in recruiting that area for the past decade.

You shouldn’t be shocked by the recruiting attention Walters is receiving. He is a top 400 recruit and for a good reason. This kid is electric on the football field.

Walters has great closing speed. He can zoom in and make a play on the ball carrier or he can close in on a wide receiver quickly. Usually, I watch a high school football player on the field and think he could end up switching positions at the next level. I don’t think that with Walters. He seems to be a safety through and through.

I would love for Walters to come to Champaign. This kid has All-Big Ten written all over him. Hopefully, Bielema can make up some ground and secure this kid’s commitment.