The recruiting game is a brutal one at times, and the Illinois football team felt the wrath on Monday morning.
Coming out of the weekend, the Illini had 23 commitments and a national recruiting ranking of No. 8 in the nation. That all changed when a committed player decided to flip his decision to an SEC program.
According to Hayes Fawcett of On3.com, Javari Barnett decided to flip from Illinois to Alabama. This decision isn’t a huge surprise, as the Crimson Tide is a football school and has a war chest deeper than most.
The quote from Barnett in the social media post is, “Not just doing it but imma do it big.”
BREAKING: Four-Star RB Javari Barnett has Flipped his Commitment from Illinois to Alabama, he tells me for @on3recruits
— Hayes Fawcett (@Hayesfawcett3) June 23, 2025
The 6’0 215 RB from Tampa, FL had been Committed to the Fighting Illini since April
“Not just doing it but imma do it big.”https://t.co/mNSK4LBJph pic.twitter.com/4EVd5iEitK
This is a decent hit to the Illinois recruiting class. Barnett is a 5-foot-11.5, 205-pound running back from Tampa Bay Tech High School in Florida. He is rated as a three-star recruit and ranked as the No. 478 player in the class of 2026. He is also the No. 30 running back in the country and the No. 69 player coming out of Florida.
While losing a recruit is never fun, Illinois football can take a hit from Javari Barnett flipping to Alabama
There are a few different feelings when it comes to Barnett’s departure. The obvious disappointment is there. I don’t like to lose recruits. There is also the feeling of, “Hmm, okay, we are playing with the big boys,” by losing one of our middle-of-the-pack recruits. Alabama wants our players, and that means Illinois is becoming a bigger threat.
Illinois now has the No. 12 class in the country with 22 commitments on the board. Barnett was one of two running backs committed to the program, too. Nelsyn Wheeler is the other ball-carrier.
Beyond Wheeler, Illinois has done a good job of stockpiling running backs over the last couple of seasons.
Kaden Feagin and Aidan Laughery are both juniors this year. Ca’Lil Valentine is just a sophomore. They are a three-headed monster in the Illini backfield.
Bret Bielema has a nice stable of running backs behind them as well. John Forster and Cedric Wyche II will have a say in carries in the coming years.
I never like to lose a recruit, but the Barnett decision to flip shouldn’t hurt too much. Illinois has built some solid depth, and we can take that shot from Alabama. That is something I couldn’t say a few years back.