Illinois Football: 3-star Kentucky lineman schedules Illini official visit

Illinois football continues to stack official visits in hopes of building a great class of 2023.

As of right now, the Illini have two players committed for the 2023 class. The two commitments are Kaden Feagin and Antwon Hayden, both of whom are top 800 recruits. Illinois’ class of 2023 currently ranks No. 43 in the country as well.

Illinois is looking to add more names to that commitment list, though. We could always use more help on the defensive line, and that is why Bret Bielema and his coaching staff is targeting Jamarrion Harkless.

Harkless is a 6-foot-4, 290-pound defensive lineman from Frederick Douglass High School and resides in Lexington, Kentucky, He is rated as a three-star recruit and ranked as the No. 128 defensive lineman in the country. He is also the No. 13 player coming out of Kentucky.

On Monday, Harkless took to Twitter to announce that he plans to take an official visit to Illinois this summer. He has the visit scheduled for June 3-5, which is a big weekend for the Illini. That is when a myriad of other players are also visiting. It looks like roughly seven players are scheduled to visit that weekend.

Jamarrion Harkless would bring power and finesse to the Illinois football program.

Not only do I love that Illinois offered Harkless a scholarship, but I love the fact we are putting resources into recruiting him. He is a talented player who I want wearing the Orange and Blue during his college career.

Harkless brings so much power to the game of football. He can bust through any offensive line. But he isn’t just a straight-line runner. The ability to maneuver when the ball is handed off or the quarterback starts moving is impressive. A player of his size should be slow and cumbersome. That isn’t the case with Harkless. He is rather nimble on his feet, and it is pretty fun to watch.

Illinois is going to need more defensive line help in the future as well. I am comfortable with what we have entering the 2022 campaign, but there will be some departures. Calvin Avery, Jamal Woods, and Deon Pate are all seniors this year. Verdis Brown will be gone after next season. Bielema needs to replenish this unit quickly.

I love that Harkless sees Illinois as a potential landing spot. The weekend of June 3-5 is going to be extremely important. Let’s hope we get multiple commitments and one of them being from Harkless.