I would like to start off by saying I'm not trying to start a flame war (or a conversation about food/restaurants).
I know coaches/fans want to focus on getting in-state guys, but is that plan feasible or even worth it? The better players usually come from the Chicago area or St. Louis. In Chicago we have to compete against Michigan, Michigan State, Wisconsin, Iowa, and Notre Dame. The many times I've been in Chicago (Lincoln Park area), I've always seen way more people wearing Michigan and Notre Dame gear.
Illinois usually produces solid offensive linemen but they always seem destined for Iowa or Wisconsin. Any linemen from the NW suburbs - forget it, ABI all the way. The better players from the St. Louis area tend to gravitate toward the SEC.
The better defensive linemen seem to go to Michigan State or Iowa.
Illinois doesn't often produce highly rated skill players but when a good one pops up, they go elsewhere.
The better linebackers and wide receivers tend to go to Notre Dame.
Michigan and Ohio State can pretty much come in and grab whoever they want (I know this is true just about everywhere else too). The SEC grabs a few good Illinois recruits from time to time. I know people want the good players to stay home, but there really isn't much history of that at Illinois. Good Illinois players always seem to have their eyes elsewhere and it seems like they would rather be 2nd or 3rd string at a school like Ohio State than potentially start at Illinois. I'm not one to kiss the rear ends of the Illinois high school coaches especially since it seems they steer their kids elsewhere anyway. Are we wasting our time in Illinois? I find it funny when people post that we need to be focusing on in-state talent more or that they find the lack of in-state commitments concerning. Not getting the better players from Illinois is nothing new. Should we just focus our efforts on the tier 2 recruits from the southern states and hope to build momentum?
I know coaches/fans want to focus on getting in-state guys, but is that plan feasible or even worth it? The better players usually come from the Chicago area or St. Louis. In Chicago we have to compete against Michigan, Michigan State, Wisconsin, Iowa, and Notre Dame. The many times I've been in Chicago (Lincoln Park area), I've always seen way more people wearing Michigan and Notre Dame gear.
Illinois usually produces solid offensive linemen but they always seem destined for Iowa or Wisconsin. Any linemen from the NW suburbs - forget it, ABI all the way. The better players from the St. Louis area tend to gravitate toward the SEC.
The better defensive linemen seem to go to Michigan State or Iowa.
Illinois doesn't often produce highly rated skill players but when a good one pops up, they go elsewhere.
The better linebackers and wide receivers tend to go to Notre Dame.
Michigan and Ohio State can pretty much come in and grab whoever they want (I know this is true just about everywhere else too). The SEC grabs a few good Illinois recruits from time to time. I know people want the good players to stay home, but there really isn't much history of that at Illinois. Good Illinois players always seem to have their eyes elsewhere and it seems like they would rather be 2nd or 3rd string at a school like Ohio State than potentially start at Illinois. I'm not one to kiss the rear ends of the Illinois high school coaches especially since it seems they steer their kids elsewhere anyway. Are we wasting our time in Illinois? I find it funny when people post that we need to be focusing on in-state talent more or that they find the lack of in-state commitments concerning. Not getting the better players from Illinois is nothing new. Should we just focus our efforts on the tier 2 recruits from the southern states and hope to build momentum?
