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.
No. 4 Karsen Konkel
The No. 4 recruit on this list is ranked lower than the No. 5 player, but with the way Illinois is building the offense, we need more tight end help. That is why landing Karsen Konkel would be big for the program.
Konkel is a 6-foot-6, 225-pound tight end from Pinckneyville Community High School in Illinois. He is rated as a three-star recruit and ranked as the No. 974 player in the class of 2024. He is also the No. 42 tight end in the country and the No. 20 player coming out of Illinois.
There isn’t a prediction submitted for Konkel just yet, but he has three official visits scheduled. He visited Illinois this past weekend. This weekend, he will be heading to Michigan State to take in the Spartans program. On June 23, Konkel will then head to Pittsburgh to see what the Panthers have to offer.
Bret Bielema took over the Illinois football program and made the offense more productive. We started to run the ball more, and he is building the team from the inside out. That style is more conducive to tight end production as well.
Illinois hasn’t had a ton of production at the tight end position over the past decade or so. Look for Tip Reiman to be the main starting tight end for the Illini in 2023 and 2024. Beyond him, there is a lot of unproven talent. This would leave the door open for Konkel to make an impact early. That is why I think he is a top target.
No. 3 Darrion Dupree
Bret Bielema has proved he can put running backs into the NFL. He has been able to recruit well at the running back position too. Hopefully, Darrion Dupree is the next great Illini ball carrier.
Dupree is a 5-foot-10, 190-pound running back from Mount Carmel High School in Illinois. He is rated as a four-star recruit and ranked as the No. 367 player in the class of 2024. He is also the No. 32 running back in the country and the No. 8 player in the state of Illinois.
I believe Dupree has three official visits scheduled. Wisconsin led things off on June 2. This past weekend, he visited Illinois. The last scheduled visit is set to take place at Missouri on June 23.
247Sports does have a leader in the clubhouse right now. There are two Crystal Ball Predictions in favor of Wisconsin. One of the predictions is a six out of 10, and the other prediction is an eight out of 10.
Even though the Badgers are projected to land Dupree, it is good he hasn’t committed just yet. I believe Illinois is still right there for his commitment. Bielema has been able to land talented in-state running backs, like Kaden Feagin, so I believe we can continue that hot streak.
Illinois could always use more running back depth. We only have five running backs on the roster right now, albeit, they are talented ball carriers. I think Reggie Love III is going to be the lead man for the next two years. Josh McCray will have his say when it comes to carries as well. Behind them is a bunch of high-level three-star and four-star recruits. Adding Dupree would only make us stronger.
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.
No. 1 Marquise Lightfoot
There are great recruits, and then there are players like Marquise Lightfoot. Illinois is big-game fishing, and one of the biggest recruits still left on the board is the talented edge from up north.
Lightfoot is a 6-foot-5, 220-pound edge from Kenwood Academy in Illinois. He is rated as a four-star recruit and ranked as the No. 70 player in the class of 2024. He is also the No. 6 edge in the country and the No. 3 player coming out of Illinois.
The official visits are falling into place right now. Lightfoot visited Ohio State this past weekend. He will be at USC this weekend. He will also take an official visit to Miami (FL) on June 26. The Writing Illini was able to chat with Lightfoot, and he did confirm that an official visit is set up to Illinois as well. He will be taking a trip to Champaign midweek next week.
Three 247Sports “experts” have submitted Crystal Ball Predictions in favor of Ohio State to land Lightfoot. They each have a six out of 10 confidence in their pick, which isn’t high by any means.
This is obviously going to be a tough recruitment to win for the Illini. We are playing with the big boys of the college football world. The fact Lightfoot didn’t commit after the Ohio State visit is positive news. I think the Trojans will have an enticing offer this weekend too.
If Illinois can win this recruitment, it would send shockwaves throughout the college football world. This is one of those big battles that could change the program completely.