Top JUCO linebacker gives Illinois football jolt in class of 2025 rankings

Last week was pretty big for the Illinois football program, as we had a couple of big-time recruits pledge their commitment.

The first of two commitments was from Grant Beerman. The 6-foot-4 linebacker decided that West Lafayette was not the right home and flipped his commitment from Purdue to the Illini. This was a big get for the program, as Beerman is a four-star recruit.

On Sunday, another big commitment came down the pipeline. Illinois saw a massive weakness at linebacker, so why not add another? Ismael Kante decided to pick the Orange and Blue as his landing spot too.

Kante is a 6-foot-2, 225-pound linebacker from Iowa Central Community College but makes Minnesota his home. He is rated as a three-star recruit and ranked as the No. 7 JUCO player in the class of 2025. He is also the No. 1 JUCO linebacker in the country and the No. 1 JUCO player coming out of Minnesota.

Before last week, Illinois had a sub-50 class in the country and needed a boost. They got that with these two big commitments.

Beerman got the Illini to near No. 50 in the country. His flip will be massive for the program. I think Kante is going to be a big one too. He ended up giving the Illini the jolt we needed to bust into the top 50.

Illinois now sits with 19 commitments for 2025, and the transfer portal isn't even in full force. 247Sports has this program with the No. 46 class for 2025 as well. Look for that number to continue to jump.

Illinois football fans should be excited about the future at the linebacker position

I will be the first to say, that the linebacker position has been less than exciting in the past decade. We haven’t had a lot of mean linebackers. Usually, they are good players like a Jake Hansen who is undersized but puts all of his heart into the game.

That is all changing now, though. Bret Bielema is bringing in some big boys at the linebacker position. Just with the last two additions, Beerman is 6-foot-4, 220 pounds and Kante is 6-foot-2, 225 pounds. Those are two bruisers.

I think they will both pair nicely with James Kreutz, Dylan Rosiek, and Kenenna Odeluga next season. Illinois has plenty of options at linebacker, and we will have depth. Illini fans should be excited about what is coming down the pipeline in Champaign.