'Make sure everyone knows we got one of their good kids.'

Interesting history between the Illini and East St. Louis football...

*The historic East St. Louis Flyers program has an interesting history with Illinois football….hit and miss….several former Flyers have worked out playing in Champaign…several haven’t…East St. Louis class of 2027 loaded again with Bret Bielema program after the likes of running back Myson Johnson-Cook….cornerback Raheem Floyd….safety Jabarri Lofton (official visit to CU scheduled for April) One thing for sure….Illini fans always seem to perk up when football recruiting involves Flyer players.

First exposure to the Flyers? Hometown Moline Maroons played East St. Louis 1978….Bob Shannon’s team led by all-state running back/future Mizzou Tiger Terry Hill…road win beating the Maroons 33-26….almost 30 years later….first round playoffs East St. Louis at Moline…..Browning Field….Flyers won 26-7…Darren Sunkett running the program…first time seeing ‘Black Cat’ Terry Hawthorne in person.

Below a look back at the Flyers that have signed with Illinois…their careers and a few that for one reason or another….spurned Illinois last minute for other schools…..’modern’ era players from 1980 to the present…..remember the old recruiting theory…each class 1/3 signed contribute…1/3 ‘guys’….1/3 leave for one reason or another.

-East St. Louis to Champaign…

Jim Collins fullback Class of 1986….played first three years of high school at East St. Louis…senior season at East St. Louis Assumption…’top fullback’ in state listed at 6-foot-2, 220-pounds when he signed….year later roster listed at 5-foot-11, 230-pounds…never lettered…left after 1987.

Julyon Brown linebacker Class of 1987….good all-around player….two-year starter…three-year letterman…returned to East St. Louis think he is a pastor now….Ron Zook’s staff depended heavily on Brown helping recruit Flyers.

Dana Howard linebacker Class of 1990….Parade All-American…Chose Illinois over University of Miami (Fla.) and Nebraska….when Nebraska was ‘Nebraska’…recruited by then Illini defensive coordinator/linebackers coach Lou Tepper….four-year starter…College All-American….Butkus Trophy winner…Illini Hall-of-Famer….currently on trial fraud charges….likely why he wasn’t around CU last fall.

Former Illini assistant coach told an interesting Howard story when he recruited ESL for a Big 12 school….Jeff Howard represented himself during the recruitment as either a brother or cousin of Dana….had gone to the ‘U’ mid-80’s defensive end…didn’t work out…gave recruiters he was going to ‘go to’ guy Dana would listen to his advice….reportedly gave some schools a ‘price’ to get an audience with the linebacker…few paid him…finally figuring out Jeff Howard would have nothing to do with the decision….’hoodwinked and bamboozled’….

Chris Moore running back Class of 1992….state’s top running back recruit before blowing out a knee senior season…didn’t qualify…ended up lettering at Illinois State…never the same explosion/power after surgery.

Dennis Stallings linebacker Class of 1992….three-year letterman….two-year starter…NFL career with Oilers/Titans.

David James linebacker Class of 1993…four-year letterman…another two-year starter…now a teacher/assistant coach at Homewood-Flossmoor (Ill.) High School.

Kevin Anderson safety Class of 2000…didn’t stick around too long…have the 2002 Sugar Bowl program Illini vs. LSU….Anderson not included.

Kendrick Jones wide receiver Class of 2001…looked the part….6-foot-3 4.5 speed….talented but quite frankly…all over the place when it came to attitude/work ethic.

Terry Hawthorne wide receiver Class of 2009….came out of the shadow of more highly-touted teammate Kraig Appleton to become a four-star prospect…one of the craziest Zook era recruitments…night before letter of intent day…reportedly his mom was on the phone with Sooner boosters talking ‘how much will you pay my son’ to go to Norman….with the help of Julyon Brown….’Black Cat’ signed with Illinois next morning….four-year player….NFL draft pick….medical malpractice (in my opinion) hurt his career…played thru it…coached at Southern Illinois…now works in the Illini personnel department…..‘Make sure everyone knows we got one of their good kids.’….comment from an Illini assistant after Hawthorne signed.

Tommie Hopkins cornerback Class of 2009…yeah package deal to get Hawthorne…was on-campus fall 2009….on-campus for a semester never got eligible…went back to the streets of East St. Louis…never good.

Clint Tucker defensive tackle Class of 2011…dominated two years in a row at the Illini linemen camps…un-blockable…quick thick kid never qualified….placed at Joliet Junior College…spent a season there before returning to East St. Louis…reminds of another East St. Louis d-lineman who dominated at the Illini summer camp 2002…throwing around committed offensive linemen….one parent of a commit wanted the cops called on the kid ‘he was so dirty’….man can see the kid can’t remember his name….same as Tucker…placed at Joliet JC for a semester before heading back to the streets of East St. Louis.

Stanley Green safety Class of 2016….trying to get a pipeline going with East St. Louis…Lovie Smith’s staff did the ‘take an under-recruited’ guy route show how much you want their players….Green leader in dumb penalties till he has a solid senior season.

James Knight linebacker Class of 2017….see above…under-recruited….played special teams….bout’ all I remember from Knight.

Brandon Henderson offensive line Class of 2023…really thought he could play tackle…moved inside to guard…starter but type you would like to see have more competition for playing time.

Jo Jo Hayden linebacker Class of 2023….transferred from St. Louis across the river for junior/senior seasons….dominated 2022 for the Flyers….high hopes for him…never seemed to find his niche’ at Illinois…transfer portal off-season ending up at Purdue.

Melvin Priestly offensive line Class of 2023….transferred in from Grambling….two-year starter at right tackle.

*Four Flyers that got away…

-Wouldn’t be a story about East St. Louis football unless it has some nutty recruiting details…four Flyers Illini ‘thought’ they had committed when in the end….went elsewhere.

Ronnie Cameron quarterback Class of 1985….Led the Flyers to 28 straight wins….Mike White’s staff ‘had a deal’ reportedly with Cameron to sign and….story always was….then Mizzou head coach Woody Widenhofer personally drove to town last minute ‘better offer’ to young man’s ‘people’…Tigers moved Cameron to wide receiver back to quarterback back to wide receiver during his career in Columbia.

Damien Nash running back Class of 2001….Sunkett was at St. Louis Riverview Gardens late 90’s….won a state championship there with Nash, future Illini Christian Morton/Jamaal Clark…Five-star Nash transferred to ESL when Sunkett got the head coaching job way back….running back ‘dreaded’ silent verbal to Ron Turner’s program….2000 not a good year for Illinois football….Gary Pinkel replaced Larry Smith as head coach at Mizzou…came in guns blazing to ‘steal’ Nash from Illinois….did….running back didn’t qualify ending up at a JC then played at Missouri/NFL….passed away in 2007 heart attack.

Brandon Harold defensive line Class of 2008….6-foot-7, 260-pounder another Flyer that dominated Illini summer linemen camps….all set to commit to Zook’s program when….on a visit to the high school….Illini assistant watched Harold get into a fight with his father….decided his ‘character issues’ were too much…passed on Harold taking Whitney Mercilus instead…good decision…Harold ended up playing as a true freshman at Kansas State…leaving after a season in Manhattan.

Kraig Appleton wide receiver Class of 2009….Four-star recruit…..All the Illini football coaches in Chicago attending Party in the Park at Joe’s On Weed Street 2009 pre-season….Appleton calls Zook at the event (puts on speaker phone for a couple of boosters to hear) tells the head coach ‘committing to Illinois’….Teammate Hawthorne had already verballed to ILL…..celebration…cept’….Appleton would never publicly commit…another situation where his ‘people’ speaking to other programs….talking him out of Illinois….ended up signing with Bielema’s Badgers….got booted off the team accused of armed robbery…robbing drug dealers in Madison area….made his way back to East St. Louis…some talk in 2016 he was going to ‘make a comeback’….never materialized….in and out of trouble with the law.

*This and that…

-’Illinois wrestling is promoting acting head coach Jeremy Hunter to permanent head coach……The Illini move on from Mike Poeta, who was placed on indefinite administrative leave in December.’ (Courtesy WCIA-TV)…..Hunter good guy loyal assistant been at Illinois for over 20 years….was hoping Whitman would hire someone with more juice…take another run at Bielema buddy Doug Schwab (UNI head coach), former Illini currently coaching like Jimmy Kennedy (Oklahoma State assistant), Matt Lackey (head coach Lock Haven University women’s wrestling program) examples…..since DIA decided not to upgrade facilities/commitment cause of other sports NIL….hard job to sell to a top head coach so took the easy way out….Staff does have a competitive recruiting class coming in….hope for the best all I can say.

-What about Mike Locksley firing our guy defensive line coach Corey Liuget after one season?….Fuckin’ Lox…’demoting’ 2024 offensive coordinator Pep Hamilton to an ‘advisory’ position…replacing Hamilton with Clint Trickett…Trickett from the run first spread option tree….Terps going to beat the shit out of another quarterback that kind of offense…..Lox also replaced his special teams coordinator recently…..😥

-Excellent stories Sports Illustrated on-line/ESPN on the rise of Illini freshman guard Keaton Wagler…Brad Underwood’s kid/offensive coordinator Tyler quoted…a lot in recent articles…why?….‘pushing him for a head coaching job?” or….’can’t lose Tyler’…..let’s name him ‘head coach in waiting’…writing that am I too cynical?….Underwood’s agent Bret Just has strong ties to ‘media’ influencers like Jon Rothstein, Jeff Goodman, Seth Davis Andy Katz etc…they will be happy pushing a narrative for Just….just sayin’

-Illinois won’t face many teams with the length/as talented, athletic ‘bigs’ as Michigan….know that….are you more worried about Illini’s tired legs or ‘being out-coached’ in the NCAA tournament?….keen grasp of the obvious…team like the Illini need that 3rd scorer to make a deep NCAA run….who is that? Saturday reported Wolverines losing point guard Cason to a torn ACL/out for the season…that’s a huge blow to their post-season chances.

-Illini recruit/Palatine (Ill.) High School post-player Tony Balanganayi named all-area by the Chicago Sun-Times…can’t think of many Orange&Blue line recruits being named hoops all-area…Brad Hopkins best hoops player that played line in Champaign…my opinion….several Moline Maroons references today🤣

-Being reported Illini 2027 quarterback ‘commitment’ Kamden Lopati planning trips to Michigan, Notre Dame and Duke….yeah see ya’…

-Safety Jake Theis reportedly officially visiting Illinois in April….2027 Oak Park (Ill.) Fenwick blue-chipper’s high school position coach is former Illini safety Travis Williams…coaching/teaching at Fenwick…Williams originally committed to Pinkel’s Mizzou Tigers out of Wood River (Ill.) High School outside St. Louis…signed with Turner’s Illini instead….head coach always bragged about ‘taking one away’ from Pinkel….’makes up for losing Nash’…ummm OK coach….What I remember most about Travis Williams time at Illinois?….his mother an all-time character.

-Speaking of ‘characters’….get messages asking ‘your remember’ this guy or that guy around when I would go to practice…events covering the Illini…a few former players might remember some of these ‘characters’.

‘Big Al’ Kurtz…man about town…always at practice/Illini events Smiley Glad-Handing it…guess he was/is active in local politics…owned a couple of Blimpie franchises…once gave me coupons to get a free sandwich at his place….go in…order…give the coupon to the cashier….’expired’…all three coupons ‘expired’…fuck me…felt so bad for the people behind the counter…paid for the sandwich and left….didn’t want to embarrass the guy so steered clear whenever he was around.

Bill Pinkstaff…’Illini Super Fan’….was an engineer that moved back to Champaign after he retired….every football practice/game he was there….Turner’s staff had a mentor program where a ‘townie’ could adopt a football player…meet with them weekly making sure they were doing OK/felt at home….Zook’s staff came in….head coach got rid of it…players told him majority hated having to participate…broke Bill’s heart…he lived for being a ‘mentor’ part of ‘the team’….then Zook closed practices 2008…Pinkstaff beside himself….few times waited forever in Guenther’s office waiting to lobby the AD to let him into practice…didn’t work…if I recall correctly….Bill slipped and fell or had a heart attack in the bathroom of the Assembly Hall during halftime of a game….died at an Illini sporting event.

‘Bookie’ short bald guy who said he was a ‘parking enforcement’ officer at UIUC….those fuckin’ campus parking tickets…’thought’ Bookie was former Illini Morris Virgil’s foster father…that wasn’t true…all the players knew/talked to Bookie after practice….He would tell you where to park so not to get a ticket…appreciated that…another guy that when Zook’s staff came in…assistants would see him at practice/ask, ‘Who is he? Why is he around?’….me, ‘Bookie is what they say his name is’….’knows all the players’…’no idea’ why he was there…no idea where the nickname ‘Bookie’ came from he wasn’t one…..other characters ‘always’ around will write about some of them upcoming newsletters.