Illinois Football: Ohio defensive lineman locks in Illini official visit

Stacking solid recruiting classes on top of each other is important for the future success of the Illinois football program.

After closing a recruiting class in 2023 that ranked No. 43 in the country, Bret Bielema and the Illini coaching staff are aiming to close another top 50 class in 2024.

A good way to build on the 2024 class would be by adding someone like Angelo McCullom. On Tuesday, McCullom took to social media to announce that he has locked in an official visit to Champaign. He will be taking this official visit from June 9-11.

Plucking a top 1000 recruit out of Ohio in Angelo McCullom would be big for Illinois football

Illinois has landed some impressive recruits since Bielema took over the program, and McCullom would fit into that category. He is a 6-foot-3, 260-pound defensive lineman from Pickerington North High School in Ohio. He is rated as a three-star recruit and ranked as the No. 715 player in the class of 2024. McCullom is also the No. 76 defensive lineman in the country and the No. 28 player coming out of Ohio.

Ohio hasn’t exactly been friendly to the Bielema regime at Illinois. We have only landed one player from the Buckeye State, and that was Collin Dixon from the 2023 class. He was actually a flip from Wisconsin.

So, building a pipeline to Ohio wouldn’t be a terrible idea. Ohio State skips over some good talent in their own backyard, so let’s take that talent and one day beat them with it.

If I had to take a guess, I would assume McCullom bulks up a little more and ends up on the defensive line in some capacity. Looking at his size at 6-foot-3, 260-pounds, I was thinking he might move to outside linebacker, but his lower body seems way too solid to be a linebacker.

I could see McCullom being dominant on the Illinois defensive line. The fact we are receiving an official visit from him is big. Let’s build that pipeline to Ohio.