Heart skips a few beats after top Illinois football commit’s social media post

Things are going so well for the Illinois football team right now, and I don’t want the good feels to end.

The Illini are coming off a 10-win campaign that saw us victorious in a bowl game over an SEC program. The last time we won 10 games in a season was nearly a quarter-century ago. So, the 2024 campaign was pretty special.

Bret Bielema has Illinois playing well on the field, and he and the coaching staff have us hitting home runs when it comes to recruiting. Illinois has the No. 13 class in the country with 11 commitments thus far. The top commitment is Victor Singleton.

This is a big weekend for Illinois football, as numerous commits and recruits are taking an official visit. That is why, on Friday night, Victor Singleton’s social media post made my heart skip a few beats. He simply posted on his social media account, “I will not be at the crib this weekend @IlliniFootball.”

I see this post, and my first reaction is disappointment. I think to myself, did we just lose this kid? And then I remember, he wasn’t supposed to be visiting this weekend anyway. It was announced a couple of weeks ago that Singleton is visiting Illinois in June, specifically the weekend of June 13.

The heart then instantly eases. But for a few seconds, I was in a panic. That post is something that usually means a decommitment is coming, but in this instance, it was just a pure informative post to help people who thought he may be visiting.

Illinois football is hitting the upgrade button on defense with the class of 2026

I am pumped to see someone like Singleton come into the Illinois program. We haven’t had this talented of a player coming from the high school ranks in a long time.

The fact that Singleton plays defensive back is huge, too. Illinois’ coaching staff has been able to develop two and three-star recruits into NFL defensive backs over the last five years. Now we get a four-star who is a top 60 recruit in the country. Just imagine what the coaching staff will be able to do.

Illinois also has other defensive talent coming in from the class of 2026. Our top three commits, Singleton (DB), Cam Thomas (LB), and Jacob Alexander (EDGE) are all defensive players. Bielema is loading up on this side of the ball, and we should have a special unit for years to come.