Illinois football has been on a roll when it comes to recruiting, and we aren’t slowing down anytime soon.
After the Illini landed a top 50 recruiting class for 2024, Bret Bielema and the Illinois coaching staff are looking to secure another great group for the 2025 class.
In the past week, Illinois has been able to secure a commitment from interior offensive lineman Michael McDonough and quarterback Carson Boyd, both players ranking inside the top 600 on 247Sports.
On Monday afternoon, another talented player from the class of 2025 decided to make his commitment. Griffin Rousseau took to social media to announce that he too was joining the cause and picking the Illini.
COMMITTED! @IlliniFootball @BretBielema @Coach_BMiller @CoachKleffner @bigbell076 @coachPatRyan @jon_proto @pierson_sid pic.twitter.com/VbWgXYiDRg
— Griffin Rousseau ‘25 (@GriffinRousseau) January 29, 2024
Rousseau is a 6-foot-7, 305-pound offensive tackle from Stoughton High School in Wisconsin. He is rated as a three-star recruit and ranked as the No. 619 player in the class of 2025. He is also the No. 49 offensive tackle in the country and the No. 7 player coming out of Wisconsin.
The Griffin Rousseau commitment shows Illinois football continues to focus recruiting efforts on the offensive line
We all saw the struggles of the Illinois offensive line this past season. Bielema clearly doesn’t want that to happen moving forward, and he has put a lot of his focus on building the front lines.
In the class of 2024, Illinois secured a top 200 recruit in AJ Dennis, who I believe could start from day one. He entered the program early and will get a lot of experience in the system this spring. The Illini also added Brandon Hansen and Zafir Stewart who will both compete for snaps from day one.
I love what Bielema did in the transfer portal on the offensive line. Illinois is bringing in JC Davis, who was one of the best offensive linemen in the country. We also added Melvin Priestly and Kevin Wigenton to help bolster the front five.
And now for the class of 2025, Illinois has three commitments, two of which are on the offensive line. The fact we have three commitments already and they are all top 700 recruits is exciting. That is upping the quality of talent the Illini are bringing into the program. Rousseau is a huge get for the Orange and Blue.