I brought my son up for the game Saturday from Alabama and was blessed to have it be an unofficial game visit. It was a great experience for him and probably and even better one for me. I thought I would describe the experience in case you are interested. I can only give the experience for a marginal player parent perspective, not a key recruit.
I texted with Pat Embleton early in the week and my son received an invite. You then have to provide basic info to the school for NCAA purposes but also all your online information, twitter, Instagram etc, I assume so the school can do its due diligence if necessary. We then received an official invite.
The doors to the Smith Center opened at 430 for a 640 kick. We were welcomed in and received our game day credentials which consisted of a lanyard with players name, high school and the like, a wrist band and our game ticket. We paid $5 for our meal as the school is prohibited for paying for your meal, or giving you anything other than a game ticket. As you walk in the weight room is behind the glass in front of you. Wow, it is impressive.
All players are measured for height and weight. Then you head up to the recruiting lounge and have a head shot taken. I assume this is so they have a picture to remember what you look like later. Some people have them take family pictures and then post them, I did not. The recruiting lounge is named after our very own Giovanni. Thank you Gio for the donation. Your lounge was impressive.
After that you head to the main team Auditorium for coaches intros and a quick meeting and Q&A about recruiting, admissions etc. None of the 10 coaches were in there. I am not sure if that was intended, they cant or just because. I did see Coach Patterson from a distance at one point walking out a door elsewhere in the Smith Center but did not see him interact with anyone. Pat Embleton and his staff, Including Terry Hawthorne spoke to the recruits and their one or two designated guests. There were a bunch of student ambassadors that assisted and offered guidance and answered questions as well. Had the weather been better I think they would have taken us outside were the putt putt course is and the like but it was raining.
We then ate our meal in the Gio recruiting lounge. After the meal we were taken down to the field. We were able to watch about 40-45 minutes of the team warming up pregame from the end zone under the student section. We sat in Section 128 for the first half. At halftime they took us into the room under the student section and had drinks, cookies and fruit. You have a great view of the old weight room which is also very impressive. The recruiting staff intermingles and did a nice job of trying to talk with every recruit and their families. We then went back to our seats to watch the second half. I saw Kaden Feagin, Aidan Laughery, Nigel Glover, Yasir Alawadi (all publicly identified as being at the game), and lots of other recruits.
When the game was over the recruiting staff thanked us for coming, I felt almost guilty having Terry Hawthorne thanking me personally for coming knowing all he did for Illini football. Everyone was great but he was particularly awesome. He did anything and everything, including helping to wipe down our seats so we did not sit in wet seats.
I spoke to a few other recruits but only if their parents were with them and as another parent of a recruit not as a fan. I will not share anything I heard or saw regarding a recruit or anything else other than what has been publicly reported on this site.
As I don't suspect everyone will get this experience, I thought I would share. I suspect BigWill's experiences with a highly recruited player may have been different but it was fun.
Go Illini!
I texted with Pat Embleton early in the week and my son received an invite. You then have to provide basic info to the school for NCAA purposes but also all your online information, twitter, Instagram etc, I assume so the school can do its due diligence if necessary. We then received an official invite.
The doors to the Smith Center opened at 430 for a 640 kick. We were welcomed in and received our game day credentials which consisted of a lanyard with players name, high school and the like, a wrist band and our game ticket. We paid $5 for our meal as the school is prohibited for paying for your meal, or giving you anything other than a game ticket. As you walk in the weight room is behind the glass in front of you. Wow, it is impressive.
All players are measured for height and weight. Then you head up to the recruiting lounge and have a head shot taken. I assume this is so they have a picture to remember what you look like later. Some people have them take family pictures and then post them, I did not. The recruiting lounge is named after our very own Giovanni. Thank you Gio for the donation. Your lounge was impressive.
After that you head to the main team Auditorium for coaches intros and a quick meeting and Q&A about recruiting, admissions etc. None of the 10 coaches were in there. I am not sure if that was intended, they cant or just because. I did see Coach Patterson from a distance at one point walking out a door elsewhere in the Smith Center but did not see him interact with anyone. Pat Embleton and his staff, Including Terry Hawthorne spoke to the recruits and their one or two designated guests. There were a bunch of student ambassadors that assisted and offered guidance and answered questions as well. Had the weather been better I think they would have taken us outside were the putt putt course is and the like but it was raining.
We then ate our meal in the Gio recruiting lounge. After the meal we were taken down to the field. We were able to watch about 40-45 minutes of the team warming up pregame from the end zone under the student section. We sat in Section 128 for the first half. At halftime they took us into the room under the student section and had drinks, cookies and fruit. You have a great view of the old weight room which is also very impressive. The recruiting staff intermingles and did a nice job of trying to talk with every recruit and their families. We then went back to our seats to watch the second half. I saw Kaden Feagin, Aidan Laughery, Nigel Glover, Yasir Alawadi (all publicly identified as being at the game), and lots of other recruits.
When the game was over the recruiting staff thanked us for coming, I felt almost guilty having Terry Hawthorne thanking me personally for coming knowing all he did for Illini football. Everyone was great but he was particularly awesome. He did anything and everything, including helping to wipe down our seats so we did not sit in wet seats.
I spoke to a few other recruits but only if their parents were with them and as another parent of a recruit not as a fan. I will not share anything I heard or saw regarding a recruit or anything else other than what has been publicly reported on this site.
As I don't suspect everyone will get this experience, I thought I would share. I suspect BigWill's experiences with a highly recruited player may have been different but it was fun.
Go Illini!
