Illinois Football: Top in-state running back for 2024 receives Illini offer

Stacking talented recruiting classes is how the Illinois football team goes from bottom dweller to Big Ten contender.

Bret Bielema has done a good job stabilizing the Illini when it comes to recruiting. His first recruiting class was a top 50 group in 2022, and the class of 2023 is on pace to crack the top 50 as well.

Now we are starting to eye what the class of 2024 could possibly look like and what players are out there for the Illinois football team to snag. One player to watch for the Orange and Blue is Darrion Dupree.

Dupree is a 5-foot-10, 177-pound running back from Mount Carmel High School in Illinois. He is rated as a three-star recruit and ranked as the No. 376 player in the class of 2024. He is also the No. 24 running back in the country and the No. 10 player coming out of Illinois.

On Tuesday, Illinois officially got into the Dupree sweepstakes as the Illini extended a scholarship offer to the in-state running back. This is a big offer and one that will hopefully pay dividends down the road.

Darrion Dupree could be the next great Illinois football running back.

While the well has dried up a bit over the past five or so years, Illinois football does have a tradition of solid running back play. Just look at one of our best running backs ever, Rashard Mendenhall. He had one of the best seasons in school history and was from Skokie, Illinois.

Illinois has produced some great ball carries, and now we have a head coach in Bielema who has a history of developing running backs.

Bielema has helped put running backs like James White and Melvin Gordon into the NFL. He now has Chase Brown looking like one of the top running backs in the country. Illinois is going to be a running back factory once again, and Dupree could be the next great one.

A big reason why I believe Dupree could be the next great ball carrier is the fact he brings so much talent to the football field. Watching this kid run with the ball is fun. The first thing that jumps off the page is his tremendous speed. He can fly all around the field.

I love Dupree’s vision as well. While he has great speed, he doesn’t just run into a pile. Dupree has the ability to be patient, see the hole opening, and then burst through it with great ferocity. Man, he is a dangerous player.

It is smart for the Illini to get in on the Dupree recruitment. He needs to stay in-state, and I want to watch him play for the Orange and Blue. It wouldn’t shock me to see Dupree finish as a four-star recruit when it is all said and done.