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Illinois might be on the horizon of the greatest athlete in program history

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Illinois might be on the horizon of the greatest athlete in program history


To be good enough to play in the college ranks is impressive enough, but Illinois might have one of the best athletes we have ever seen come through the program in 2026.

While the Illini are still trying to hold on to a top 20 class of 2026, the lead dog in this pack is Nasir Rankin. The 6-foot-1, 174-pound athlete committed to Illinois back in May and is our best commit yet.

Rankin is a four-star recruit who is ranked as the No. 84 player in the class of 2026. He is also the No. 9 athlete in the country and the No. 2 player coming out of Illinois. The Morgan Park High School product will likely be a wide receiver when he enters the college ranks.

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But Rankin isn’t just a stellar football player. Illinois also sees him as a solid basketball recruit, too. When he committed to the Illini, he announced that he would play both football and basketball.

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Usually, you see some type of dip in production when a player plays two sports like this. Illinois has had this in the past. Someone like Walter Young was a star on the football team, and he was on the basketball roster. Young didn’t get much playing time, though.

You can also go to the other end of the spectrum. A player like Julius Peppers for North Carolina. He was a star football player and went on to a Hall of Fame NFL career. Peppers was also good at basketball, averaging 7.1 points and 4.0 rebounds per game before focusing on football.

On the basketball side of things, Rankin isn’t rated or ranked nationally. He does have other basketball scholarship offers from the likes of Eastern Illinois, Grambling State, and Northern Illinois.

What piques my interest is what Rankin is going to do in his senior year at Morgan Park. We all know what he is going to do on the football field, but what does his basketball season look like? How big of numbers can this kid put up, and when or where will he crack the 247Sports rankings?

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As a junior, Rankin was a big part of the Morgan Park squad. He averaged 23.2 points, 3.3 rebounds, 3.3 assists, and 2.6 steals per game. His shooting isn’t bad either, as he hit 50-of-147, 34%, from three-point range.

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Rankin took those basketball skills into the summer with the KL Power 5 AAU squad. In the adidas 3SSB AAU league, Rankin averaged 14.3 points, 2.7 assists, and 2.0 rebounds per game.

What should the expectations be for Nasir Rankin when he arrives at Illinois

The numbers are pretty impressive at the high school ranks. Is he LeBron James, where he is the best basketball player in the country, and then an All-State football player? Likely, no, but no one expects him to live up to the greatest player of all time.

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Could Rankin be the greatest athlete to ever come through Champaign? I think that is something to think about.

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Let’s say Rankin comes in and in the first two years, he hits 1,000 yards receiving in a season and is Illinois’ biggest offensive weapon. Being a top 100 recruit in the country, that isn’t farfetched by any means.

While being the best weapon Illinois has offensively, Rankin is a good rotational player for the basketball team. He averages 15 minutes per game and puts up 7.0 points, 3.5 rebounds, and 1.5 assists per game.

I am sure there were athletes back in the pre-World War II era who played both sports well, but since more people have been allowed to play sports, I can’t think of the last player Illinois has had who could play both football and basketball at a high level.

There is no reason to anoint anyone yet. Rankin still has an entire high school season to play, and it will be fun to watch what he can do on the field and court. But it is starting to creep into my mind that Illinois might have the greatest athlete in program history coming to us in 2026. That is a fun thought.

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Produce Recall Issued In Parasite Outbreak Hitting IL

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Produce Recall Issued In Parasite Outbreak Hitting IL


A number of Taco Bell locations have posted signs announcing they are “currently unable to sell Lettuce, Cilantro Onion, Pico de Gallo, and Guacamole due to a nationwide recall,” according to Detroit-area news radio outlet WWJ.

Taco Bell told the Post it would keep monitoring the situation and follow authorities’ guidance.

Taco Bell Lettuce Linked To Growing MI Parasite Outbreak: FDA

“Public health officials have not confirmed a link to Taco Bell or any specific ingredient, supplier, restaurant or retailer,” the company told the Post. “While authorities continue their broader review, Taco Bell has voluntarily and temporarily removed limited ingredients at select restaurants as a precautionary measure.”

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In Michigan, where cases have been concentrated, media reports said notices were posted at some Detroit-area Taco Bell restaurants last week telling customers the chain was “currently unable to sell Lettuce, Cilantro-Onion, Pico de Gallo, and Guacamole due to a nationwide recall.”





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Illinois GOP trails badly in midterm cash

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Illinois GOP trails badly in midterm cash


The Illinois Republican Party filed its quarterly campaign finance report on the July 15 deadline. The party reported having just $223K in the bank. The next day, the party sent a letter to the Illinois State Board of Elections saying they were “reconciling” their records after a leadership change, and then noted that their actual end balance was $101K higher than it had reported the day before.

But that bit of found money was basically the end of the “good news” for the GOP last week.

Republicans no longer have a pet billionaire. Bruce Rauner and Ken Griffin have fled the state. The legions of wealthy business titans who once contributed and raised money have either retired to sunnier climes or passed away. Several prominent party members have publicly shunned labor unions and their hefty political war chests, although the state GOP legislative leaders have at least tried to rebuild ties to trade unions and even the Illinois Education Association. But the heavily gerrymandered legislative map combined with the current political climate means they’ll mostly receive scraps.

And, yes, the House Democrats are struggling this month with scandals, including a state representative who resigned under pressure and another who was indicted. I’m not trying to downplay that at all. But Democrats have the national political environment, the local infrastructure and tons of cash behind them. The Republicans have little to none of that.

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The GOP’s gubernatorial candidate, Darren Bailey, raised $1.3 million in the second quarter, which ended June 30. That sounds like a lot, but he spent almost all of that on direct mail fundraising costs. The huge expenditures do give him a prospect list for future fundraising, but he ended the quarter with a mere $128K in the bank. That was still a whole lot more than the rest of the statewide ticket.

Attorney General nominee Bob Fioretti, a perennial candidate, raised $31K, spent $39K and had $28K on hand at the end of the quarter along with almost $15K in recent debt. Secretary of State candidate Diane Harris raised $6K, spent a bit over $4K and had a paltry $1,816.42 in the bank. Treasurer candidate Max Solomon, who ran as a write-in during the primary because the party failed to recruit anyone, raised less than $3K, reported no spending and ended the quarter with less than $8K. Comptroller candidate Bryan Drew raised $30K and received $47K in in-kind contributions from a company owned, ironically, by independent gubernatorial candidate Collin Corbett, spent less than $3K, ended with $54K and had $25K in debt from earlier this year.

Man, that’s just downright pathetic.

But I suppose it doesn’t really matter anyway unless we see a massive sea-change in national opinion in the coming months or the federal government finds a way to not certify certain election results. Regardless of where individual candidates are at this moment, they’ll have the money to compete. Unlike the Republicans, the Dems do have a pet billionaire (JB Pritzker) and, I assume eventually for most of them, organized labor.

The Republican legislative leaders have tried to scrape and claw as much as they can, but they’re vastly outgunned. Senate Republican Leader John Curran raised just $75K in the second quarter. He spent $71K and reported having a bit more than $3 million in the bank. His caucus committee reported having $160K in the bank.

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Leader Curran has three Republican-held districts to defend in the Chicago media market that have all trended Democratic in the last three cycles. Depending how bad things get, he could be defending a couple, two or three more.

The Senate Democrats have a ton of money to do whatever they want. Senate President Don Harmon has about $20 million in his personal campaign account and $1.7 million in his caucus account.

Over in the House, Republican Leader Tony McCombie has at least four Democratic-trending or swingy districts to defend and just $1.3 million in her personal campaign account and another $363K in her caucus account so far.

In contrast, House Speaker Chris Welch had $11.4 million in his personal account and $1.2 million in his caucus account. Like Senate President Harmon, he has more than enough money already, but more is never enough when there’s so much out there, so those numbers will likely rise by November.

Rich Miller also publishes Capitol Fax, a daily political newsletter, and CapitolFax.com.

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Hillsboro grad, Springfield golfer Alex Eickhoff 2nd at state amateur

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Hillsboro grad, Springfield golfer Alex Eickhoff 2nd at state amateur


BLOOMINGTON — Springfield’s Alex Eickhoff nearly had a magical Thursday as he tied for second place in the 95th annual Illinois State Amateur Championship at Crestwicke Country Club.  

Eickhoff, a 2020 Hillsboro High School graduate and former standout on the Southern Illinois University Edwardsville’s men’s golf team, shot a 4-under-par 68 in Thursday’s third round and followed that with an even-par 71 to finish the three-day, four-round event 1-over 285. He tied for second with Bloomington’s Logan Stauffer.  

Eickhoff briefly took the lead through nine holes of his fourth round when he sat at 1-under par. Chicago’s Charlie Kulwin finished both of Thursday’s rounds under par and finished 2-under 282. He was the lone golfer to finish under par for the tournament.

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Eickhoff was The State Journal-Register’s Small School Boys Golfer of the year twice in his high school career: once as a freshman in 2016-17 and again as a senior in 2019-20. After high school, he golfed for the University of Minnesota for two years before transferring to SIUE.  

He began the tournament with a 3-over 74 on Tuesday and shaved off a stroke Wednesday with a 2-over 73. He closed out the event with an even-par 71 in Thursday’s final round.

Other area golfers who made the cut were Springfield’s Charles Hoogland (7-over 291, tied for 20th) and Jacksonville’s Brady Kaufmann (8-over 292, 25th). 

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The last golfer from The State Journal-Register’s coverage area to win the Illinois State Amateur was Jay Davis. Davis, a Jacksonville Routt graduate, won the 1991 and ‘92 tournaments. 

Contact Ryan Mahan: 788-1546, ryan.mahan@sj-r.com, Twitter.com/RyanMahanSJR.





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