Illinois shocking the world with massive recruiting day

What a Wednesday it has been for the Illinois football program.

The festivities started with the Illini landing a big-time defensive lineman in King Liggins over Big Ten foe Wisconsin. Liggins provides much-needed depth on the front lines of our defense, as he is the lone defensive line commitment for 2026 thus far.

While Liggins would have been a solid recruiting day for the Orange and Blue, Bret Bielema was not done. In fact, he hit a massive home run in the form of one of the best recruits in the country.

On Wednesday afternoon, Nasir Rankin announced that he was committing to Illinois. He ended up picking the Illini over teams like Duke, Nebraska, North Carolina, and USC.

This is a massive commitment for Illinois. Rankin is a 5-foot-11.5, 180-pound wide receiver from Morgan Park High School in Illinois. He is rated as a four-star recruit and ranked as the No. 85 player in the class of 2026. He is also the No. 9 athlete in the country and the No. 2 player coming out of Illinois.

After Illinois landed Liggins, we moved from No. 11 to No. 10 in the class of 2026 team rankings. With Rankin in the fold, Illinois now has the No. 8 class in the country. Let that soak in for a second. We have a top 10 recruiting class, and this is pretty deep into the proceedings.

Illinois fans probably don’t realize the quality of player Nasir Rankin is all time

Rankin is going to be a game-changer for the Illini. He is a quick wide receiver who can be used in multiple ways in the Illinois offense. We haven’t had that in a long time. Rankin has superior athletic ability, and he will be featured in the offense early and often.

I don’t think most Illini fans realize the magnitude of the Rankin commitment. Throughout the recruiting rankings era, Illinois has landed some quality players. Out of all of the players in the last 20 or so years, Rankin ranks No. 19, according to 247Sports. He is also the highest-rated player in the Bielema era, just ahead of Malik Elzy, who ranks No. 25.

This is a huge commitment for Illinois. Landing a top 100 recruit should send shockwaves through the college landscape. Illinois is loading up for a tremendous future.