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Illinois football shows recruiting masterclass in latest 2027 commitment

Bret Bielema keeps the Illinois football recruiting train going with another commitment on Monday.
ByRees Woodcock|
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Oct 11, 2025; Champaign, Illinois, USA; Illinois Fighting Illini head coach Bret Bielema stands on the sidelines during the second quarter against the Ohio State Buckeyes at Memorial Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Ron Johnson-Imagn Images
Oct 11, 2025; Champaign, Illinois, USA; Illinois Fighting Illini head coach Bret Bielema stands on the sidelines during the second quarter against the Ohio State Buckeyes at Memorial Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Ron Johnson-Imagn Images | Ron Johnson-Imagn Images

The Illinois football program was set for a big Monday, as a prime recruiting target was set to make a commitment.

Coming into the day, the Illini sat with the No. 60 class in the country. We have been pulling in decent talent, but continuing to build was a priority.

On Monday afternoon, Brody Knowles took to a live stream with 247Sports to announce that he has made a decision and will be committing to Illinois.

This commitment doesn’t blow people away on paper. Knowles is a three-star recruit who is the No. 1054 player in the class of 2027. He is also the No. 132 wide receiver in the country and the No. 137 player in the state of Texas.

Don’t let the recruiting rankings deceive you, though. At 6-foot-5, 190 pounds, Knowles was wanted by a lot of big-time programs.

The commitment from Knowles was down to Illinois, TCU, and Arkansas. The Razorbacks are an SEC program, and the Horned Frogs are a home-state program that has a lot of money to throw around. At the end of the day, Illinois showed out and took this recruitment.

You have to give all of the credit in the world to wide receivers coach Justin Stepp. He was the main recruit for Knowles, and his pitch to the big wide receiver sealed the deal.

On top of that, it is not like Stepp has strong ties to Texas. It is a hard state to recruit, and the fact that he went in there and got this commitment shows the masterclass of a recruitment that Illinois put on display.

Illinois’ offense is getting a big boost from the class of 2027, especially with recent commitments

The Knowles commitment on Monday enabled the Illini to see a little bump up to No. 58 in the country for the class of 2027. I love what we are doing with this recruiting class and our offense.

Illinois has 13 commitments thus far, and eight of those committed players are on the offensive side of the ball. This includes three out of the top four and seven out of the top nine commits being on offense.

The weapons out wide are going to be intriguing, too. Bennett Konkey is a four-star wide receiver and will get a lot of run early on. I am curious to see what type of early playing time Knowles gets. It is going to be hard to sit a wide receiver who is 6-foot-5.

Illinois continues to plug away at the class of 2027. We aren’t going to compete when it comes to recruiting with the biggest of programs, but little wins like this are huge. Knowles is a great get for the Orange and Blue.

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