Illinois Football: Former top recruit departing the Illini program

Illinois football is losing one of the highest-rated recruits of the Lovie Smith era.

Bret Bielema took over the Illini late in 2020. Since then, things have been trending upward for the program. We had five wins in that first season and then busted out in 2022 with eight regular-season victories.

Before Bielema’s success came the Lovie era. He wasn’t a good college coach by any means, but he did have an eye for talent. One of the top players he was able to land during his time leading the Illini was Shammond Cooper.

Cooper was a four-star recruit out of Trinity Catholic High School in St. Louis. He was also ranked as the No. 286 player in the class of 2019.

Shammond Cooper’s time with the Illinois football program was disappointing, to say the least

On Monday, Bielema had a press conference to sum up what happened since the final bowl game and entering spring practice that started on Tuesday. He went over some position changes and injuries, and then he dropped the big bomb.

Cooper was transferring.

Bielema mentioned in the press conference that Cooper came to him a couple of weeks ago and said he was wanting to transfer. He mentioned that there were already schools coming after him. Bielema was all class when he heard the news.

"“Anytime these situations pop up, I kind of express to those kids, especially in Shammond’s situation, anything I can do to help facilitate where you want to go or how you want to do it, please let me know,” Bielema said, “I am excited for him and his new opportunity.”"

Despite being a four-star recruit, Cooper’s career couldn’t get off the ground in Champaign. He ended up playing in

18 games over four years

, most of which were on special teams. Cooper would finish his time with the Illini amassing nine tackles.

It’s only an assumption, but considering former Illinois defensive coordinator Ryan Walters is now the head coach of the Purdue Boilermakers, and Cooper’s former head coach at Trinity Catholic, Cory Patterson, followed Walters, this might end up being the landing spot for the former four-star linebacker.

With that being said, I wish nothing but the best for Cooper. Illinois should enter the 2023 campaign without missing a beat, though.

Gabe Jacas returns at outside linebacker after being named to the All-Freshman team by numerous outlets. He is poised to have another big year. Seth Coleman is a veteran on this team and should be great again. He finished 2022 with 45 tackles and 4.5 sacks, which was second on the team.

I am also excited to see the jump that Jared Badie makes from year one to year two. He was a former top 700 recruit last year and will be looked upon to play some big snaps

It is never fun to lose someone like Cooper, but Illinois should be able to push forward without too much of a hitch. Spring practice is upon us, and it is only the beginning of what should be a great year.