Illinois Football: Illini in top 5 for 4-star edge rusher

While the basketball world is going crazy, the Illinois football program is doing some impressive work in the shadows.

Coming off a strong class of 2022 where the Illini signed 26 players, 10 of which have already enrolled and are in spring practice, the program is looking to build an even better 2023 group.

On Tuesday, the second member of the Illinois class of 2023 joined the program when Antwon Hayden committed. He is an East St. Louis product who now joins fellow in-state star Kaden Feagin in hopes of bringing Illinois to national prominence.

The Illini currently sits with two top 800 recruits and a national ranking of No. 38, which would be easily the best recruiting ranking the program has had in the past decade. But head coach Bret Bielema is just getting started with the class of 2023. He has his eyes set on some big fish, and one of those big-time recruits is Jameial Lyons.

Lyons is a 6-foot-4, 245-pound edge rusher from Roman Catholic High School and resides in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He is rated as a four-star recruit and ranked as the No. 25 edge rusher in the class of 2023. He is also the No. 7 player coming out of Pennsylvania.

The recruitment of Lyons seems to be coming to an end, though. This past Friday, the star edge rusher narrowed the scope of his recruitment down to just five programs. The teams making his top five include West Virginia, Cincinnati, Pittsburgh, Penn State, and Illinois.

Landing Jameial Lyons would show impressive pull for the Illinois football program.

Just looking at the top five for Lyons, it makes me a little nervous. He is from Pennsylvania, and four out of the five programs in his top five are either in the state or are in a state that touches Pennsylvania. The only one that isn’t is Illinois.

In my opinion, this is going to be an extremely tough recruiting battle to win. If Bielema can get a commitment from Lyons, it would prove that his recruiting pull is extremely strong and Illinois fans should be excited about what is to come in the future.

Lyons is an extremely impressive player. Have you seen his Hudl tapes?

The kid is amazingly quick off the line of scrimmage. He has a burst of speed that high school players can’t handle. Just imagine what he is going to be able to do with a college coaching and training staff getting him ready for Saturdays. Lyons is going to quickly develop into an All-Big Ten caliber player.

I love that Illinois is in the top five for Lyons. I think it is probably an uphill battle, though. I have hope we can land him, and we will likely get a shot with an official visit. Let’s shock the world and take a top-tier Pennsylvania kid away from Penn State and Pittsburgh.