Illinois football is putting the college world on notice, as players continue to pledge to the program.
Leading into this past weekend, the Illini had a great class of 2026. We ranked No. 14 in the country, and numerous players were visiting to see if Champaign was the right place to call home in the future.
Commitments then happened. On Wednesday, Illinois had one of its best recruiting days in quite some time. One of the big pledges came when Kai Pritchard posted on social media he had committed to the program.
The Pritchard post read, “COMMITTED!! FamILLy!!”
COMMITTED!! FamILLy!!🔸🔹@IlliniFootball @BretBielema @artursitkowski4 @CoachCurcione @ronmammano @nasjack33 @Rivals @njgridiron_ @247Sports pic.twitter.com/JFsuX9YaIH
— kai pritchard 26’ OL (@kaipritchard6) June 18, 2025
This was a massive commitment for the Illini. Pritchard is a 6-foot-5, 275-pound offensive tackle from Donovan Catholic High School in New Jersey. He is rated as a four-star recruit and ranked as the No. 317 player in the class of 2026. He is also the No. 25 offensive tackle in the country and the No. 5 player coming out of New Jersey.
Illinois was also able to beat out some good competition. Pritchard was down to Duke, Boston College, Rutgers, and Illinois before ultimately picking the Orange and Blue.
Bret Bielema is low key prioritizing the Illinois football offensive line for the class of 2026
With the addition of Pritchard, Illinois now has the No. 10 class in the country for 2026. We have 22 commitments and three four-star recruits in that mix.
Bret Bielema has done a good job building out the 2026 class. With that being said, the haul of offensive line talent he has snagged for the Illini is tremendous.
Illinois now has four offensive linemen committed for 2026. Pritchard is the highest-rated of the offensive linemen, as the No. 317 player in the country. The other three can hold their own, too. Casey Thomann is ranked No. 532, Landen Von Seggern is ranked No. 725, and Tony Balanganayi is ranked No. 785. That is four offensive linemen all ranked inside the top 800 in the country.
This is an impressive recruiting class for the Illini. We have the flashy players committed, but with these four offensive linemen coming in, including Pritchard, the Illini will be able to protect our flashy players and will let them flourish on the field.