Diamonds in the rough

From a 5-foot-9 quarterback to the chubby kid...Illini football diamonds in the rough.

Wrote about the Illini football recruits that for various reasons never lived up to the recruiting hype in their careers in Champaign earlier this month (Drinkin' the Orange Kool Aid)....below list of Illini players with little to no recruiting hype that ended up as some of the best to ever play in Memorial Stadium....trust me filling a recruiting class with ‘sleepers’ too many 2 star types rarely works…..not a great recruiting 'strategy' but...every once in awhile coaches find that 'Diamond in the Rough' that the fan base always remember.

*Jason Verduzco quarterback Antioch (Cal.) High School Illini recruiting class of 1988

Verduzco never mentioned in any of the national recruiting rankings/magazines 1988.....Mike White 'resigned'/fired mid-January 1998....New hire John Mackovic/staff scrambling to fill their recruiting class....Top White QB targets Jeff Lesniewicz (Homewood Flossmoor/Purdue) Trent Green (St Louis Vianney/Indiana) drop Illinois once White fired.....Mackovic's staff watches Verduzco on film, 'think' he looks close to his listed height on the recruiting tape 6-foot..... staff agrees Verduzco good enough athlete that 'if he can't play QB he can play defensive back'....sign him and another QB Jeff Kinney out of Wheaton (Ill.) North that class....staff never had seen Verduzco in person till he shows up for fall camp when they realize.......he is 5-foot-9.......left Illinois as 2nd leading passer in program history....helped lead Illini to a share of the 1990 Big Ten championship....prefer to remember the 1990/1991 Verduzco vs. the 1992 Verduzco when then offensive coordinator Tom Beck wanted a 5-foo-9, 195-pound outstanding touch passer running option in the Big Ten....coaching malpractice.

*Brad Hopkins tight end Moline (Ill.) High School Illini recruiting class of 1988

Hopkins no mention in any of the recruiting rankings/magazines in 1988...played on the same high school basketball team as future Iowa Hawkeye/NBA first round pick Acie Earl...known more for his basketball talent than football at Moline...power forward literally...likely headed to either Northern Iowa or Northern Illinois when again Mackovic's new staff scrambling for players noticed Hopkins on film playing tight end when looking at United Township (East Moline, Ill.) lineman Pat Wendt....Illinois signed both players that class....moved from tight end to tackle at Illinois....blossomed into a 3-year starter, 2-time All Big Ten, 1992 team captain....first round pick of the then Houston Oilers....2-time all pro left tackle...started 188 games for the Oilers/Tennessee Titans....irony....Illini found Hopkins looking at another high school player on film...1991 NFL scouts went to see the Illinois vs. Ohio State game to watch then Buckeye defensive end Alonzo Spellman/Illini senior guard Tim Simpson play....by the end of the game scouts were raving about how well Hopkins handled Spellman in the 10-7 Illini win over the then 20th ranked Buckeyes.

*John Holecek linebacker Chicago Heights (Ill.) Marian Catholic High School Illini recruiting class of 1990

Chicagoland prep football recruiting guru Tom Lemming didn't 'rank' Holecek one of the top 200 prospects in the Midwest class of 1990......'I got the last scholarship that Illinois gave out the year I came out of high school," Holecek said. The linebacker was a senior at the University of Illinois, the college's sports publicist came up to him one day before the NFL draft and sized up the linebacker's pro football prospects. "Well John, there's always the CFL," he said. That little slight was stuck under Holecek's skin for a long time. "I was pretty disappointed over the fact that here was the guy who was supposed to be publicizing me, and he's taking that attitude," Holecek said. (quotes courtesy Buffalo News)....damn good job Illinois SID office....only other scholarship offers could find for Holecek were Northern Illinois, Ball State, and Eastern Michigan with 'a lot of Big Ten interest' late which means 'don't call us, we will call you'....outstanding high school catcher....picked in the 5th round by the Buffalo Bills whose GM at the time, John Butler, long time Illini guy always took Illinois players for his Bills....teammate Dana Howard got all the pub but Holecek left Champaign as the fifth leading tackler in school history....8 year NFL career....now head football coach at Loyola Academy on the north shore of Chicago.....Holecek one of three former Illini who 'claim' they got the last scholarship recruiting class of 1990.....other two running back Clinton Lynch out of Youngstown, Ohio, Steve Stefanski offensive line Blue Island (Ill.) Eisenhower both were told they 'got the last scholarship' that class....Ken Dilger then a high school quarterback didn't get the last ride class of 1990 so he sat out the next fall enrolling in school 1991....turned out to be a pretty good 'greyshirt' for the Illini.

*Fred Wakefield tight end Tuscola (Ill.) High School Illini recruiting class of 1996

Only 'mention' of Wakefield was Super Prep 'rating' him a 'NR' (not rated) bottom of that years Illini recruiting class and afterthought......1995 was first time on line 'discovered' the 'National Recruiting Center' the early days of college recruiting sites...’National recruiting center’ was a group of web sites that covered football and basketball recruiting….not a network, just a group of independent sites covering college teams……someone would post the Illini commitment list on that site...each week I would check and each week would see, 'Fred Wakefield tight end Tuscola, Illinois' and think, 'why?' Tuscola?' 'Why?' (recruiting snob me).....Wakefield not listed anywhere by any of the gurus/magazines...nothing...hell Lemming was on the Illinois payroll back then (would receive an honorarium/cash money to come down to Champaign and talk to the staff about recruiting...in reality it was a bribe to make sure Lemming ranked Tepper's classes high he did).....Wakefield wasn't even on Lemming's top 200 prospects in the Midwest post season....just goes to show you...switched to defensive end...would fight Tony Pashos daily in practice to show the offense the defense wasn't going to let Pashos/Luke Butkus bully them that day....All Big Ten pick....ended Illini career 3rd in sacks/blocked kick leader.....NFL career with the Cardinals/Raiders....now fund raiser for the Illinois athletic department.

*Brandon Moore defensive tackle Gary (Ind.) West Side High School Illini recruiting class of 1998

Listed by Lemming as the 155th best player in the Midwest recruiting class of 1998......Committed to Illinois over Ball State summer of 1997....then Illini defensive coordinator Tim Kish had 'discovered' Moore when looking at other players on film spring 1997.....had late offer from Wisconsin to play offensive line but stuck with the Illini....3-year starter at defensive tackle....2001 team captain for the Big Ten champs....Kittner, Lloyd the offense always talked about that 2001 but Moore, Bobby Jackson, Muhammad Abdullah center of that defense huge huge key to winning the championship....did switch to guard in the NFL ......starting 142 games in his 11 year career majority of those starts with the New York Jets....Eugene Wilson Illini class of 1999 another NW Indiana find by Kish out of Merrillville (Ind.) High School....all time Illini great, 2 time Super Bowl champion with the New England Patriots....picked Illinois over offers from Northern Illinois and Ball State.

*J Leman linebacker Champaign (Ill.) Central High School Illini recruiting class of 2003

Wasn't rated in Lemming's top 200 Midwest prospects post season but his high school teammate/buddy Drew McMahon (129) was....defensive back McMahon walked on at Illinois .....his dad then Illini assistant Greg McMahon long time friends with Lemming why Drew ‘ranked’.....Would get the unofficial visitors for the 2002 Illini home games and this name kept showing up, 'J. Leman'....name wasn't in any database...nothing....finally found a 'Jeremy Leman' Champaign Central in an Illinois High School football preview guide which listed 'Jeremy' as a 5-foot-10 linebacker....called the dopey 'football guy' at the Champaign News Gazette as a last resort to find out if he knew who Leman was? Football guy asked the News Gazette prep guy who reported that 'Leman is at Central and would be lucky to be a walk on at Illinois'....ummmm OK....Turner's staff signed Leman class of 2003...that class Turner's staff also signed Champaign Centennial defensive end Jay Ramshaw.....message board smart asses kept asking, 'when did Champaign start producing so much high school football talent?'.....04/05 Leman playing linebacker, struggle train.......message board mob angry about losing and one whippin' boy was always J...'why we playing someone who can't play?'....could tell some of J's family reading the message boards eeek....I liked J hard not to, his parents always kind to me rooting for him to do well ........Zook's staff comes in 2005, J playing outside linebacker and that doesn't go well.

Winter 2006 sitting in then Illini defensive assistant Dan Disch's office...he says, 'well we are switching Brit (Miller) and J'....Miller a freshman in 2005 had an excellent year at middle linebacker......'why?' Miller had become a fan favorite making tackles all over the field previous fall 'someone to build around'....Disch pointing down the hall to Zook's office, 'ask Ron, he is the one who said they they are switching not me'...Disch made his point about the two linebackers moving his hands side to side on the desk, Miller better running laterally, 'more athletic' than J.... that spring, Miller outside, Leman middle linebacker....later on Disch admitted Zook saw something he didn't see, made the right call...Middle linebacker Leman became a demon....all Big Ten/team leader/face of the program in 2007......from message board whippin' boy to hometown hero.

*Jeff Allen tackle Chicago (Ill.) King High School Illini recruiting class of 2008

Rated as a 2-star but should have been a 3-star......person 'ranking' the state of Illinois had 'forgotten' to upgrade Allen despite constant reminders......Sideline November 2006 before the Purdue at Illinois game...see 2007 Chicago King o-lineman Miles Stroter there with his dad, another player unofficial visitors....Stroter wanted badly to commit to Illinois but had struggled at the 2006 linemen camp previous summer.......He wasn't going to get an Illinois offer....after the game, asked then Illini assistant/Chicago recruiter Reggie Mitchell, 'Miles Stroter was here'...quickly Mitchell said, 'yeah he isn't getting an offer, his dad asked again but we are not going to offer him'......asked, ‘well what about the big kid with him? A propsect?” Mitchell said, 'The chubby kid?'......'yeah'...Mitchell, 'junior' and then shrugged his shoulders, 'I don't know about him'....walked away,...'the chubby kid' turned out to be Jeff Allen.......Eric Wolford named Illini offensive line coach in January 2007...He came from the University of Arizona....'Chubby Kid' Allen next winter got into better shape, ended up doing very well at the Maine South 'combine' that spring....Maine South 'combine' was open to Chicago area linemen/skill players to get individual coaching/development from local high school coaches...end of spring they had a showcase for all the college coaches that recruited Chicago....Allen went from suspect to prospect at the showcase....talked up by the well respected Maine South o-line coach as a 'legit Big Ten player' that night to every assistant coach he spoke with about the offensive line prospects.

Summer 2007 Illini linemen camp....Wolford looking hard at two offensive linemen Allen, David Young from Edwardsville (Ill.) High School....whoever did the best at the workout would likely get an offer from Wolford/Illinois....the new o-line coach smoked both Young, Allen that day physically....remember Allen saying, 'man I am cramping’ when I saw him but he kept going/working...Wolford just wanted to see if either would quit....Young ended up not giving the effort the then Illini o-line coach wanted to see....Allen didn't quit, kept putting in the effort though he wasn't 100 percent...after the tryout was over, Wolford went over to Zook/Mitchell said he wanted to offer Allen a ride...Zook looked at Mitchell, if Mitchell the area recruiter approved....Wolford would have Zook's approval to offer Allen....Mitchell asked Wolford, 'you sure cause if you offer, he (Allen) is going to commit then that's on you'....Wolford said he would take Allen if he wanted to commit that day......had become 'buddies' with Wolford so am standing watching the exchange between the coaches....as we were walking away, said to him, 'well that was interesting' Wolford laughed said, 'yeah my ass is on the line with this one' then elbowed me in the ribs....HARD….as we walked away....Illinois/Zook/Mitchell offered Allen shortly after, he did commit on the spot.

David Young signed with the University of Florida class of 2007...Young spent a year on the Gators roster before leaving Gainesville.....Allen four year starter at tackle for Illinois....2nd round draft pick of the Kansas City Chiefs....started 84 games in his NFL career (2012-2018).....Jon Asamoah Rich East (Ill.) Class of 2006...similar to Allen....committed to Northern Illinois fall of 2005....2-star....Illinois recruiting then 4 star Ramone 'Ray Ray' Johnson guard from Chicago Morgan Park when Johnson picked Tennessee December 2005....Illinois offered Asamoah/took his commitment...Johnson flunked out of Tennessee never to be seen on the field again....Asamoah four year starter at guard for Illinois...All Big Ten...another Chiefs 2nd round pick that played several years in the NFL.

*Nate Hobbs defensive back Louisville (KY.) Male High School Illini recruiting class of 2017

Fifth round pick of the Las Vegas Raiders last spring....one of the top rookie cornerbacks in the NFL this fall......Committed to Western Kentucky over offers from Ball State, Eastern Michigan and Ohio among others before Illinois offered/took his commitment.......Hobbs appeared in 39 games with 34 starts for the Fighting Illini from 2017-20, compiling 168 tackles (110 solo), 12.5 tackles for loss, one sack, three interceptions, 18 passes defensed, one forced fumble and one fumble recovery. As a senior in 2020, Hobbs was named a Phil Steele Preseason All-Big Ten Third Team selection and started five games, totaling 31 tackles (22), one interception and three passes defensed. He earned All-Big Ten honorable mention from the media in 2019 after starting all 13 games at cornerback and recording 67 tackles (44), including 5.5 tackles for loss, one interception, 11 passes defensed and one fumble recovery (courtesy Las Vegas Raiders)