Illinois
Illinois football recruiting: 19 players Illini targeting on early signing day
Early signing day is here.
Illinois football currently has 19 commitments in its 2025 class but is looking to add more as it tries to solidify another class under fourth-year coach Bret Bielema. Illinois’ 2025 class sits at No. 46 in the nation and No. 15 in the Big Ten Conference per the 247Sports Composite.
All four of Bielema’s recruiting classes have hovered around the top 40 or 50, according to the 247Sports rankings. The decade before Bielema came, just three classes ranked that high, according to Jeremy Werner of Illini Inquirer, part of the 247Sports umbrella of recruiting experts.
Here are a few players the Illini are still targeting at early signing day, plus a list of players expected to sign:
Illinois football recruiting targets
There are still a few players left uncommitted, according to Werner. Names to know include four-start defensive back Alex Graham of Michigan. The Colorado commit visited Champaign in the fall and experts also point to Michigan or USC.
Other targets appear to be from junior college, according to Werner, including defensive lineman Tyeland Coleman (Mississippi State, Florida State also interested) and offensive lineman Jakheem Shumpert (Mississippi State interested)
Illinois might also add a high school prospect, as well, as the program has done over the last few years. For instance, last year they added Spring Valley Hall defensive back Mac Resetich, who played some key minutes this season.
Illinois’ 2025 class currently ranks No. 49 in the nation per the 247Sports Composite. The Illini are No. 15 in the Big Ten Conference.
Illinois football recruiting class 2025
Illinois has 19 commitments in its 2025 class:
- Brayden Trimble, 6-2, 170, WR, Mt. Zion, Illinois
- Cameron Brooks, 6-3, 270, EDGE, Homewood-Flossmoor, Illinois
- Grant Beerman, 6-4, 220, LB, West Chester, Ohio
- Isaiah White, 6-3, 270, DL, Indianapolis, Indiana
- Andre Lovett, 6-2, 180, S, Blue Island, Illinois
- Tywan Cox, 5-11, 165, CB, Miami, Florida
- Jershaun Newton, 6-0, 205, QB, Clearwater, Florida
- Carson Boyd, 5-10.5, 178, QB, St. Louis, Missouri
- JJ Hirdes, 6-5, 275, OT, Coopersville, Michigan
- Michael McDonough, 6-3, 275, OL, Bolingbrook, Illinois
- Logan Farrell, 6-3, 235, TE, Arlington Heights, Illinois
- Ismael Kante, 6-2, 225, EDGE, Fort Dodge, Iowa
- Desmond Straughton, 6-1, 192, ATH, Roseville, Michigan
- Xanai Scott, 5-10, 180, S, West Palm Beach, Florida
- Robert Jones III, 5-11.5, 165, CB, Vero Beach, Florida
- Cedric Wyche, 5-9.5, 200, RB, Fort Lauderdale, Florida
- Erik Gayle, 6-3, 215, EDGE, Cincinnati, Ohio
- Griffin Rousseau, 6-7, 305, OT, Stoughton, Wisconsin
- Grant Smith, 6-5, 225, TE, Maroa, Illinois
When is early signing day?
The early signing day period opens Dec. 4 and closes Dec. 6.
When is late signing day?
The late signing day opens Feb. 5 and runs through April 1 for Division I programs.
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Illinois man’s Memorial Day weekend in Key West was derailed after he went bar hopping in a stolen police car
Imagine your unofficial start to summer taking place in Key West, Florida. You’ve made the trip for the Memorial Day weekend from suburban Chicago, and you’ve got plans to enjoy some of the local establishments.
You have an evening of drinks planned on Saturday when all of a sudden those plans get derailed. Bar hopping was likely on the agenda, but there’s no chance doing so in a stolen police car was ever mentioned.
According to the Key West Police Department, John Mack, 38, of La Grange, Illinois, hopped into and took a patrol car from an officer working off-duty at Dante’s Key West Pool Bar & Restaurant.
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Local 10 reports that the KWPD said Mack had been drinking inside the bar and restaurant before the incident, which surveillance video shows took place just before 6:20 p.m. Police say the footage shows him “walking out of the pool bar with two friends and standing a couple of feet away from the patrol vehicle.”
Mack then, allegedly, opened the door, got inside, and drove off, almost hitting two men. A security guard reportedly got the attention of the officer the patrol car belonged to and as other KWPD officers were responding to the bar, Mack drove the car around the parking lot.
An Illinois man was arrested in Key West after allegedly stealing a police car and taking it for a ride. (Getty)
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Police say they later found him nearby outside of the Boat House Bar & Grill. He had successfully, it would appear, drunkenly bar hopped in the stolen police car. While he claimed to have had only three to six Coronas, according to police, he failed the field sobriety test.
They then allege he resisted arrest, which caused him to sustain cuts from a fence. He refused a breathalyzer and wasn’t in possession of a valid driver’s license at the time of his arrest. He only had an Illinois ID card on him.
A Memorial Day Weekend trip to Key West for an Illinois man included an arrest after he allegedly stole a patrol car. (Getty)
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Mack, who is obviously innocent until proven guilty, was arrested on charges of DUI, burglary, grand theft, grand theft of law enforcement equipment, reckless driving, refusal to submit to DUI testing and resisting arrest without violence.
That is a full Memorial Day weekend no matter how you look at it.
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