Watching and following Illini recruiting, Illini football, and now Illinois basketball too, is to watch Paul Giamatti’s character in “Sideways.”
You just see them take hit, after hit, after hit, after hit, and you think: “when is life going to deal them a better hand finally?
Since Mike Thomas took over as Athletic Director, things have taken a serious turn for the worse. Here’s what the recruiting services are saying about the latest Illini recruiting class.
24/7 Sports ranks this Illini recruiting class 13th in the Big Ten, just ahead of only Purdue. They count 18 commits, zero of the four or five star designations, and 15 commits of the three star variety. Rivals rates the 17 commits of Tim Beckman as 72nd overall. Scout, of Fox Sports, has this Illini recruiting class dead last– but 68th overall. The Illini’s commits are mostly three-star prospects, Although Nick Allegretti is the ninth-ranked center in the country, according to Rivals.com. Sports Illustrated wrote:
“However, this 17-member class isn’t likely to make the Illini a contender any time soon.”
Again, will Illinois football ever give us some really good news? College football National Signing Day is just hours away. Beckman and his staff will host an event open to the public to announce the 2014 Fighting Illini recruiting class at 5 p.m. on Wednesday, Feb. 5, at the Colonnades Club at Memorial Stadium.
The Illinois coaching staff and some of the new Illini signees will greet fans as they enter the Colonnades Club starting at 5 p.m. Then at 5:30, the coaching staff will talk about the entire recruiting class and video highlights will be shown of each new signee. The event is free and open to the public.
But maybe Tim Beckman will pull an “October Surprise” on February 5th? Maybe he can land some big names and get this Illini recruiting class up to 12th or 11th in some of the rankings? Maybe. Could be. Possibly. Usually, when a Big 6 power conference team and you’re filling up your roster with JUCO transfers, you’re in trouble as a program. You’ve seen the Illini recruiting classes lately, and there’s been a need for those JUCOs.
Paul M. Banks is the owner of The Sports Bank.net, an affiliate of Fox Sports. An MBA and Fulbright scholar, he’s also an analyst for multiple news talk radio stations across the country; with regular weekly segments on ESPN, NBC, CBS and Fox Sports Radio. A former writer for NBC Chicago and the Washington Times, he’s also been featured on the History Channel. President Barack Obama follows him on Twitter (@paulmbanks)