Illinois football had a busy recruiting weekend, and it is starting to pay dividends

As the weekend concluded, many Illinois football fans were left wondering about who would end up committing to the program.

It was a huge weekend for the Illini, as numerous recruits headed to Champaign to see what the Orange and Blue had to offer. With much speculation swirling, the first domino has dropped.

On Monday night, Will Vala took to social media to announce he has committed to the Illinois football program.

Vala is a 6-foot-3, 225-pound tight end from Downers Grove North High School in Illinois. He is rated as a three-star recruit and ranked as the No. 70 tight end in the country. He is also the No. 38 player coming out of the state of Illinois.

While his ranking was a bit low, the scholarship offers were hot and heavy. Vala had roughly 24 offers on the table, and he had future official visits set up with both Indiana and Wisconsin.

The post by Vala was short and sweet. “100% COMMITTED!!! ILL,” the new Illini tight end wrote.

Illinois football continues trend of moving toward a tight end-heavy offense

I love this addition for the Orange and Blue. We now have 17 commitments was a national recruiting ranking of No. 15 in the country. This commitment also continues to show the commitment Illinois has toward the tight end position.

The Illini haven’t been known for tight ends over the decades. The last great tight end was Jeff Cumberland, and we are approaching 15-20 years since he was around.

Illinois now has Vala in the mix. He joins Grant Smith and Logan Ferrell from the class of 2025. Bret Bielema isn’t done with tight ends either. We are also after two big fish in JC Anderson and Mack Sutter. Landing one of those monsters would be icing on a really talented class of 2026.