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One major reason the Kamden Lopati recruiting flip won’t hurt Illinois football

Illinois football took a big hit for the class of 2027, but at the end of the day, it shouldn't hurt too bad.
ByRees Woodcock|
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Dec 30, 2025; Nashville, TN, USA; Illinois Fighting Illini head coach Bret Bielema calls time out against the Tennessee Volunteers during the second half at Nissan Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Steve Roberts-Imagn Images
Dec 30, 2025; Nashville, TN, USA; Illinois Fighting Illini head coach Bret Bielema calls time out against the Tennessee Volunteers during the second half at Nissan Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Steve Roberts-Imagn Images | Steve Roberts-Imagn Images

It was a dark Monday for the Illinois football program, as one of our top recruits decided to back away from a commitment.

The Illini were cruising along when it came to recruiting. The class of 2025 was solid, and the class of 2026 is one of the best this program has seen in decades. Those two recruiting groups were supposed to be the momentum that led into the 2027 class.

On Monday, that class of 2027 took a huge hit. Hayes Fawcett of On3.com reported that Illinois commit Kamden Lopati has decided to back away from his commitment.

This is a gut punch to the Illini, as Lopati was a four-star recruit who was the No. 122 player in the class of 2027 and the No. 9 quarterback in the country.

Just days ago, the prediction that Lopati was going to flip to Michigan was submitted by multiple recruiting sites. Needless to say, it seems that the Wolverines have backed up the Brinks truck, and Lopati is about to make life-changing money.

Losing out on Kamden Lopati seems bad on paper, but Illinois football will be just fine

This sounds like I am just a homer. Illinois loses a four-star quarterback, and I am saying we will be fine. That sounds bad, I know. But let me explain.

Illinois still has a good start to the class of 2027. Justin Johnson is our lone commit right now, and he is a four-star cornerback. We should be able to build off his commitment.

Moreover, Illinois will be okay for one major reason. We don’t play recruited quarterbacks in the Bret Bielema era.

This isn’t an exaggeration. During the Bielema era, Illinois hasn’t had a quarterback start under center that we have recruited. Art Sitkowski, Brandon Peters, Tommy DeVito, John Paddock, and Luke Altmyer are the quarterbacks who have started a game for the Illini. All five quarterbacks came in via transfer.

The last quarterback Illinois recruited from high school to start was Isaiah Williams in 2020.

While it does hurt losing Lopati on paper, the odds of him actually starting were pretty slim. Granted, he would be the highest-rated quarterback recruit in the Bielema era, but I still think the transfer portal is the way to go for a signal-caller.

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