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

By Rees Woodcock

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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CHAMPAIGN, IL – OCTOBER 12: A detailed view of a Big Ten end zone pylon seen before the Illinois Fighting Illini and Michigan Wolverines game at Memorial Stadium on October 12, 2019 in Champaign, Illinois. (Photo by Michael Hickey/Getty Images) /

No. 2 Ca’lil Valentine

Not all big-time Illinois commitments have to come from in-state recruits. The Illini are also reaching out west to see if we can get a player like Ca’lil Valentine to come to Champaign to dominate in the backfield.

Valentine is a 6-foot, 180-pound running back from Chandler High School in Arizona. He is rated as a four-star recruit and ranked as the No. 354 player in the class of 2024. He is also the No. 31 running back in the country and the No. 8 player coming out of Arizona.

While there isn’t a Crystal Ball Prediction submitted just yet, Valentine is laying out his official visits. He will be in Utah this weekend to take in the Utes program. Next weekend is when the Illini get their shot, as Valentine will be in Champaign on June 23.

I believe Illinois has a legit shot at Valentine. We have worked quickly in this recruitment, as the Illini offered him a scholarship just a month ago, and he is already taking an official visit. My hope is that he doesn’t schedule any more official visits after the Illinois visit on June 23. That means he would be down to, essentially, Illinois and Utah.

Valentine has set a commitment date. He will be pledging on July 8, so we at least know a timeline. This is going to be an interesting recruitment to watch. Illinois would love to start a recruiting pipeline out to the west coast.

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