Illinois Football: Illini receive 2nd Crystal Ball for 2024 defensive lineman

Illinois football has received a second Crystal Ball Prediction for a top recruit in the class of 2024.

The Illini class of 2024 has started off on the right foot. Three-star offensive lineman Brandon Hansen was the first domino to fall. Top 1000 recruits and fellow three-stars Trey Petty and Angelo McCullom also pledged to the program in the past couple of months.

With three commitments on the board for 2024, Illinois sits with the No. 72 class. That isn’t a good number to finish with but we are a very long way from being finished. There are plenty of players still trying to find a home, and one of those players is Demetrius John.

Back on February 4, Illinois entered the John sweepstakes with a scholarship offer. He would quickly take an unofficial visit on February 20 and April 15. This led to Illinois getting his first official visit this past weekend. In the middle of the visits, 247Sports released a Crystal Ball Prediction that John would land with the Illini. On Friday, there was another prediction submitted in favor of the Orange and Blue.

Demetrius John would help the Illinois football team secure another top 50 recruiting class

John is a 6-foot-4, 250-pound defensive lineman from Dublin Coffman High School in Ohio. He is rated as a three-star recruit and ranked as the No. 784 player in the class of 2024. He is also the No. 80 defensive lineman in the country and the No. 26 player coming out of Ohio.

Illinois has been heavily involved in John’s recruitment, but there are still other teams to watch. He has official visits set up for Boston College on June 16, Indiana June 20, and Vanderbilt June 23.

Opinion

With so many visits in a short amount of time, and now an official visit, I have a hard time seeing Illinois not winning this recruitment. John is a big-time player and is someone who would help this program tremendously.

The profile for John says defensive lineman, and he did play defensive end in high school, but honestly, I see him entering the Illinois program and being moved to a more of an edge role. He is built to be an outside linebacker who can rush the passer or drop back on a tight end.

I love John’s size. At 6-foot-4, he could cover a lot of bigger players in space. His speed also enables him to keep up with quicker slot receivers. But John has that natural instinct of running down a ball carrier. Regardless of where he plays, I think this kid is going to be a really good player at the next level.