Building a strong recruiting foundation is important, and that is why the Illinois football program targets 2028 recruits.
The Illini are still buttoning up the class of 2026, which needs to finish on a strong note in the coming months. We still haven’t secured a 2027 commitment. The same can be said for the 2028 class as well.
Illinois is starting to recruit harder for 2028, though. One of the top talents from this class is Jack McNamara.
In the last couple of weeks, McNamara took to social media to announce that he has received a scholarship offer from Illinois.
After a great camp, I’m very blessed to receive an offer from @IlliniFootball! @BretBielema @RobbyDischer @CoachQuedenfeld @BrotherRiceFB @SWiltfong_ @AllenTrieu @adamgorney @LemmingReport @CoachCano pic.twitter.com/q8L3KVjJ3F
— Jack McNamara (@JackMac2028) June 18, 2025
This is a big offer for the Orange and Blue. McNamara is a 6-foot-5, 235-pound tight end from Brother Rice High School in Illinois. He isn’t rated or ranked yet due to only being a sophomore in high school, but McNamara is going to be one of the top recruits in the country.
McNamara still has three more years in high school, and he already has roughly nine scholarship offers, all of which are from power-four programs.
The offer also came at a great time. McNamara was in Champaign for a camp, and that is when Bret Bielema and the Illinois coaching staff extended him the offer.
Illinois football will hopefully start changing the tides on the tight end position
It is great that the Illini are getting into a massive tight end recruit from the state of Illinois. This has been a trend lately, too.
The Illini were in the running for in-state 2026 four-star tight end Mack Sutter. He ultimately chose Alabama. We are also in the running for JC Anderson, who is also from the state of Illinois. He is a four-star who will announce his decision soon.
Illinois has a lot of chances at some of the top tight ends in the country. Things don’t seem to be going our way right now, but Anderson’s recruitment is huge. Hopefully, we can land him and then continue landing top tight ends like McNamara in the future.