Illinois Football: Top 5 recruiting targets left for the class of 2024

COLLEGE PARK, MD - OCTOBER 27: Football on the field during a college football game between the Maryland Terrapins and the Illinois Fighting Illini at Capitol One Field at Maryland Stadium on October 27, 2018 at College Park, Maryland. (Photo by Mitchell Layton/Getty Images) *** Local Caption ***
COLLEGE PARK, MD - OCTOBER 27: Football on the field during a college football game between the Maryland Terrapins and the Illinois Fighting Illini at Capitol One Field at Maryland Stadium on October 27, 2018 at College Park, Maryland. (Photo by Mitchell Layton/Getty Images) *** Local Caption ***
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Illinois football
Oct 1, 2022; Madison, Wisconsin, USA; Illinois Fighting Illini logo on a helmet during warmups prior to the game against the Wisconsin Badgers at Camp Randall Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Hanisch-USA TODAY Sports

Illinois football had a wild week of recruits committing to the program from the class of 2024.

With the rush of commitments, the Illini now have the No. 44 ranked class in the country. This is a great start to what could easily be the best recruiting class for the program in over 10 years.

But there are still plenty of big fish left to catch. Some of these players are in-state and some are from across the country. One thing is for certain; they could all help Illinois win a lot of games in the future.

Here are the top five Illinois football recruiting targets left for the class of 2024.

No. 5 Ricky Knight III

Checking in at No. 5 on the top targets left for the Illini in 2024 is Ricky Knight III. He is a talented Florida recruit who could help the Illinois football program on either side of the ball.

Knight is a 6-foot, 168-pound athlete from The Benjamin School in Florida. He is rated as a four-star recruit and ranked as the No. 405 player in the class of 2024. He is also the No. 35 athlete in the nation and the No. 57 player coming out of Florida.

As of right now, Knight has three official visits scheduled. He was in Champaign this past weekend to take in the Illinois program. This weekend, he is visiting Florida State. He then has a trip to Miami (FL) to see the Hurricanes program on June 23.

247Sports has Miami as the favorite to land Knight. There is one Crystal Ball Prediction for the Hurricanes with a six out of 10 confidence.

I think this is going to be a tough recruitment to win. Knight is from Florida and his next two official visit stops are big in-state programs. The fact Illinois got an official visit is exciting. It will be tough, but landing another four-star recruit would be huge for the program.