Illinois Football: June is going to be a big month for the Illini

This is going to be a crucial summer for the future of the Illinois football program.

For most high school kids, the summer should be a time to relax, swim, hang out, and just enjoy not being tied down by the burden of schoolwork. But this isn’t just a regular summer for a certain group of athletes.

Numerous high school football players will be taking trips to various college campuses around the country to see if that location would be a good fit for the player. Another level of recruiting is to see if the NIL money will be good enough at that destination as well.

This holds true for every college football program including the Illini. As of right now, Illinois has two commitments for the class of 2023. Kaden Feagin and Antwon Hayden, both top 800 recruits, are set to join the Orange and Blue, and both players are going to be taking their official visit to Champaign on the weekend of June 3. But they are not the only players coming to town.

June is going to be a chaotic month for the Illinois football program.

Joining Feagin and Hayden the weekend of June 3 is a myriad of other talented recruits taking official visits.

Some of these recruits are in-state building blocks who would not only help the team win games, but they would show future recruits that they can stay home and do something special.

Malik Elzy and Damon Walters are two of those great local players. Elzy, a top 350 recruit, is a 6-foot-3 wide receiver who has every team in the country after him. Landing him would give Illinois quarterbacks one of the best targets in the Big Ten to throw to.

Illinois’ defense needs a player like Walters as well. While the Illini have sent multiple players from the secondary into the NFL the past few seasons, I still believe there is a lot of room for improvement when it comes to stopping the pass. At safety, Walters would help stabilize the secondary.

There are plenty of names visiting the weekend of June 3 who would make a big impact on the team. Tyler Gant just committed to Northwestern, but if Illinois can show him Champaign is the place to be, we could flip him down the road.

East St. Louis and St. Louis are up for grabs. Illinois has three players coming up from this area on the weekend of June 3.

Two weekends later – the weekend of June 17 – there is another round of official visits taking place. Another big-time safety in Zachary Tobe is coming up from Florida to visit Champaign. He is a top 800 recruit. Tobe and Walters as a one-two punch at safety would be incredible for the Illinois defense.

Illinois also has three other defensive players joining Tobe on the visit the weekend of June 17. Building out the defense is something I am expecting from the Illini coaching staff.

As of right now, there are 15 players scheduled to take official visits to Illinois in June. Needless to say, this is going to be a big month for the program. Hopefully, there are at least a handful of commitments out of this stretch of visits.