At this point, it kind of feels like if you aren’t in the transfer portal, then you are missing out. This rings true for the Illinois football program.
The Illini are north of 20 players who have entered the transfer portal, and that number could easily continue to rise depending on what teams get into the ear of these talented athletes. But despite the trend being entering the transfer portal, one future superstar for the Orange and Blue decided to come back and continue the fight for a College Football Playoff spot.
On Tuesday, Illinois' leading rusher Ca’Lil Valentine posted a graphic on social media, and all that accompanied it was two emojis. One orange and one blue heart.
— cv.cinco (@CalilValentine) January 13, 2026
This post had zero words but spoke volumes about what Valentine thinks of this program and his future with the team. Moreover, Illinois is getting back our leading rusher and clearly the top running back in the backfield.
Illinois football might have to lean on the running game, and Ca’Lil Valentine avoiding the transfer portal will help the situation
The 2025 season saw so many ups and downs for the Illini. The passing game was nearly always on point, but the defense struggled greatly and gave up a ton of points.
For the early part of the season, there wasn’t much consistency with the running game either. Injuries really hurt the running back room, but they also enabled Valentine to get more shine, as he got more playing time.
Valentine led Illinois with 614 yards on the season. He also had four touchdowns and a solid 4.7 yards per carry. Valentine will still have two years of eligibility left as well.
What that also means is that Valentine likely enters next season as the starter. There are a myriad of running backs behind him, too. Don’t be shocked if we see one of the primary running backs from the 2025 campaign hit the transfer portal in the next day or so.
Thankfully, Illinois had some good transfer portal news on Tuesday. This was a nice change of pace from the slew of departures in recent weeks. Valentine is back in the fold, so expect big things out of the backfield in 2026.