*Recruiting is fluid...
-Bret Bielema's program picked up three 2025 commitments last week while losing one to the Indiana Hoosiers.
Erik Gayle outside linebacker/defensive end Cincinnati Withrow High School-6-foot-3, 215-pounder had been previously committed to the University of Cincinnati...Gayle had offers Boston College, Kentucky, Louisville and West Virginia....four schools that have traditionally recruited the Cincinnati area hard....on the field...Gayle played stand up outside linebacker...legit size/long arms keeping blockers off his legs...excellent agility side to side...burst/bend/closes quickly off the edge rushing the passer...can play in space...excelled vs. top competition.
Skinny lower body....doubt can bulk him up to play with his hand on the ground...drag down tackler...too many times settling to drag down vs. lowering his shoulder driving thru the ball-carrier...comp would be to current Illini outside linebacker Seth Coleman...with the tools you see on film...proper development….Gayle All-Big Ten type of potential.
Cedric Wyche running back Ft. Lauderdale (Fla.) St. Thomas Aquinas High School-played last year at Cardinal Gibbons transferring to Aquinas for senior season....Aquinas always been good to Bielema wherever he has coached...after losing New Jersey blue-chip ball carrier John Forster to Rutgers....Illini needed a summer back commitment got it in Wyche....player comp for Wyche would be Reggie Corbin (hopefully won’t have to run the ball as much as Corbin did)...on the field….change of pace type that can catch the ball out of the backfield consistently...return man...5-foot-9, 200-pounder had offers from several power four programs.
Robert 'R.J.' Jones cornerback Vero Beach (Fla.) High School-Chose the Illini over UCF...last spring committed to North Carolina State...de-committed from the Wolfpack few days before his official visit to Champaign June 21st....on the field....quick feet...versatile played well when in both the bail/back pedal man coverage technique...listed at 5-foot-11, 165-pounds....tries to tackle/be physical....originally from Ft. Pierce, Florida transferred to Vero Beach before 2023 season....press man cover corner with plenty of legit power 4 offers.....type Bielema's staff should be landing from the Sunshine State.
Davion Chandler wide receiver Indianapolis Lawrence North High School-Visited Bloomington after committing to Bielema’s program....then de-committed from the Illini picking the Hoosiers...2025 an excellent year for high school talent in the state....new Indiana staff losing majority of top talent to other schools now in panic mode...beg, borrow, steal, 'go negative' strategy now trying to flip...worked with Chandler.
*'Dunk you very much'...
-Been meaning to write about this subject reading Jeff Cumberland turned 37 recently sparked me....Nebraska Cornhusker football players had a dunk contest last winter halftime of a home game vs. Minnesota....got me thinking best dunkers that were Illini football players?....My top five Illini below.
1. Jeff Cumberland tight end/wide receiver-Won the dunk contest at the Gus Macker 3-on-3 summer tourney in Champaign...was there to watch/judge the dunk contest when his teammates talked him into participating....looked like a young Dr. J that day...prize for 'winning' 50 bucks which Cumberland donated to the Champaign Boys and Girls club....would have been a NCAA violation if he accepted the cash......A four-star prospect out of Columbus (Ohio) committed to Ron Zook's program class of 2006....'USC recruited him as a defensive end' head coach proclaimed signing day...Cumberland would have been a helluva under-sized power forward.
2. Walt Aikens safety-Class of 2009 recruit...looked like he was jumping off a trampoline got so high on his dunks...booted off the team spring 2010 after being charged with possession of stolen property.....then Illini defensive tackle Lendell Buckner charged with pulling dorm fire alarm going into rooms of students stealing electronics....Aikens supposedly had two stolen IPad's in his possession...Charges against Buckner later dropped....Aikens transferred to Liberty University/spent several years in the NFL majority with the Miami Dolphins.
3. Isaiah Williams wide receiver-His HUDL highlights had his dunks at Trinity Catholic High School (since deleted)....pogo stick...360/behind the head/dunked two balls same time....all kinds of throw downs.
4. Simeon Rice defensive end/rush linebackers-'The Game' played summer hoops in the long-forgotten USBL...one winter on the practice squad for a Continental Basketball team...won dunk contests both leagues.
5. Brian Schaefering defensive line-Class of 2001 recruit....6-foot-6, long arms...one of the top all-around athletes ever to enroll at Illinois......loved to go to the IMPE and throw around/dunk on his fellow 'students'....spent as much time working on books as working on his dunks/IMPE hoops...wouldn't have flunked out of Illinois...twice...2nd time flunked out after 2004 fall semester told ‘can’t come back’ to UIUC....got his shit together at Lindenwood (Missouri) University.....ended up playing in the NFL for a few years at defensive tackle.
Best basketball player modern era who played football at Illinois?.....Post C.J. Jackson signed with Bruce Weber's program spent a season (2007) playing offensive line for Zook's program....nope not the best....Jackson looked like Tarzan walking off the bus….played like Jane on the field never wanted to hit/didn’t make much of a contribution to the hoops team....Turner era wide receiver Walter Young spent some time on Bill Self's team maybe 2002?....nope not the best.
Eugene Wilson the best by far per his former teammates.....'would have been an All-Big Ten point guard'....'had MAC offers before he told all the basketball coaches he was signing for football'....'no one on the basketball team could guard Geno...he and Frank Williams would have been unstoppable together'....so there you go Geno Wilson pick as best hooper that played football at Illinois.....(am sure I missed someone and will be corrected on this call HA)
*Karras gets paid...
-When all is said and done former Illini offensive lineman Ted Karras (pictured above) will earn over 30 million dollars playing in the NFL...pretty good for a guy who as a recruit three Big Ten schools passed on...
The Cincinnati Bengals have signed starting center Ted Karras to a one-year contract extension, the team announced Thursday......Financial terms were not disclosed, but a source told ESPN's Jeremy Fowler that Karras' new deal puts him at an average of $6.6 million in salary over the next two seasons.
Before the recent deal, Karras, 31, was entering the final season of a three-year contract worth $18 million. In his first two seasons with the Bengals, he has started all 36 games the team has played (including postseason).....Karras, who is entering his ninth year in the NFL, has been elected a team captain in each of his first two seasons in Cincinnati and is also the team's lead NFL Players Association representative. (Courtesy ESPN.com)
NFL.com 2016 draft review of Karras..."Gritty demeanor on the field. Quality pass sets with a heavy-handed punch. Rare football lineage as the seventh member of the Karras family to play in the Big Ten. Intensity on game day is legendary. Penalized just twice over the last two seasons. Decent body control."
Four-year starter at guard for the Illini....New England 2016 sixth round pick/two-time Super Bowl winner with the Patriots....class of 2011 three-star recruit out of Indianapolis Cathedral High School.....great uncle Alex Hall-of-Famer with the Detroit Lions/former Iowa Hawkeye...uncles played football at Northwestern...his father an Indianapolis area football coach.
Summer of 2010....Karras made the camp circuit working out in Champaign, Iowa City, Evanston and Bloomington (Indiana)....Hawkeyes/Fitz-eee's Wildcats after camp told Karras, 'thanks send your first three games of your senior season'...nice way of saying, 'thanks but no summer offer'...Indiana/Illinois had offered....by August...Karras ready to commit talked to the Hoosiers who told him, 'sorry full up' offer off the table...next stop University of Illinois.
First two seasons in Champaign…..coached by future NFL assistants Joe Gilbert (Colts/Bucs now with the Carolina Panthers) and Luke Butkus (Green Bay Packers)...Karras lucky enough to go to New England/coached/developed by an all-time great o-line coach in Dante Scarnecchia....then head coach Bill Belichick loved Illini players (drafted several of them over his time in Foxboro)....His first NFL job with the Detroit Lions and became friends with Alex Karras...came time to draft….Pats loved Ted's intensity/toughness...knew he would come to practice daily and fight/compete 'get better'.
Offensive line coaches always talk 'give me' a smart kid with toughness 'enough athletic ability' and they can turn them into a productive starter interior at guard/center....Karras great example of that…quite the Illini success story if you ask me.
Belichek did like to draft the Illini products. Michael Buchanan comes to mind just slightly after Ted Karras. Uncle Alex K. was quoted as saying "when I was in college I loved to play football and drink. I didn't feel comfortable doing anything else." PHX