Illinois Football: Illini defense is loading up in the transfer portal

Illinois football still has one game left for the 2022 campaign, but we are already building out the 2023 unit.

I love the current Illini coaching staff. Not only have they developed the Illinois players who were already on the roster, but we are also going to a bowl game in year two of the Bret Bielema regime.

On top of a bowl game being played in the next month, Illinois has a top 50 recruiting class coming in for the class of 2023. We are also starting to build for next season via the transfer portal. On Saturday, the Illini were able to snag Nicario Harper.

Coming out of Carver High School in Georgia, Harper was only a two-star recruit. He would land with Southern Mississippi to play his first year of college football as a defensive back. After that first season, Harper would end up with Jacksonville State.

Harper would play two years with Jacksonville State before spending this past season with Louisville. By October of this season, Harper had already put his name into the transfer portal. Illinois is now receiving this talented safety.

Illinois football is getting a big-time transfer portal player in Nicario Harper.

I know that the stops I mentioned above don’t sound like the Illini are getting a great talent, but Harper has proved that he is a big-time player in some of his previous stops.

In Harper’s first season with Jacksonville State, he would end up landing on the FCS first-team defense. That means he was one of the best safeties in the country. He would finish that season with 51 tackles, three pass breakups, and two interceptions.

Jacksonville State would then move from the Ohio Valley Conference to the Atlantic Sun Conference in 2021. Despite the conference move, Harper picked up where he left off. He would make the ASUN first-team in 2021, as he had 54 tackles, three quarterback hits, two interceptions, one pass breakup, and one fumble recovery.

Harper made the move to Louisville for the 2022 campaign. He would play in a few games with the Cardinals, where he would total seven tackles. But sometimes destinations just aren’t the right fit.

Defensive coordinator Ryan Walters is now getting a player who clearly can play well on the defensive side of the ball. Harper has the ability in him, and Walters has shown he can mold any player into an NFL-caliber defensive player.

I think this is an under-the-radar pickup for Illinois. We always need more bodies on defense, and it wouldn’t shock me to see Harper start for the Orange and Blue in 2023. I would be curious to see what role Harper has in the upcoming spring game. This is an exciting get in the transfer portal.