The class of 2026 is nowhere near complete, as the Illinois football program is eyeing more and more talent to fill out the roster.
Bret Bielema has already snagged quite the crew, ranking No. 10 in the country and having 16 players commit to the program. That number is sure to grow as time goes on, and one of the big targets the Illini are eyeing is Raderrion Daniels.
Daniels is a 6-foot-1, 180-pound cornerback from Lake Cormorant High School in Mississippi. He is rated as a three-star recruit and ranked as the No. 703 player in the class of 2026. He is also the No. 58 cornerback in the country and the No. 23 player coming out of Mississippi.
Numerous programs are after Daniels’ commitment, and he is starting to narrow down the scope of his recruitment. As of right now, he has roughly 29 scholarship offers and is starting to schedule official visits.
On Wednesday night, Daniels took to social media to announce that he has locked in his official visit to Illinois. He will be making the trip to Champaign on the weekend of June 17-19. Before he makes that trip, he will also visit Purdue on May 30 and Louisville on June 6.
Locked in🔥🔥🔥 @IlliniFootball @BretBielema @CoachCParker @_CoachEllington @vicadamss_ @IlliniAthletics @UofIllinois @samspiegs @adamgorney @ChadSimmons_ @nester_nick @R_AmirGantCoach #famILLy pic.twitter.com/AMxVWpkMMw
— Raderrion”DD”Daniels 4⭐️ (@RaderrionD1) May 28, 2025
Mississippi is starting to become a nice hub for Illinois to land talented recruits
It is hard to recruit in the south if you are a team from up north. Those players tend to go to traditional powerhouses in the south. Daniels seems different, though. He has some teams up north on the official visit list, so that bodes well for the Illini.
Illinois has been doing pretty well in the state of Mississippi when it comes to recruiting, too. Our leader heading into the 2025 season, Luke Altmyer, is from Mississippi. He has been the biggest get for the Illini out of the transfer portal.
Kaleb Patterson is another player who is from Mississippi but made a stop before coming to Illinois. He was a solid cornerback for Bielema last season and played a total of 564 snaps.
Illinois also has a nice big wide receiver in Ashton Hollins and a future quarterback in Trey Petty from the state of Mississippi. Hollins should make a big impact this season, and Petty was the 7A Mr. Football in the state his senior year.
I would love if Mississippi became a strong pipeline for Illinois football. We have started to tap into it, and adding someone like Daniels would go a long way in strengthening our position in that talent rich state.