Zooker pulls in another top-20 class
Today marks college football’s second coming of Christmas in National Signing Day. It is the first day that recruits for the class of 2008 can put their name on the dotted line of a National Letter of Intent to officially become a part of a college football program. And Memorial Stadium wasn’t numb to the buzz of this Wednesday.
Ron Zook and his staff have pulled in another group of talented athletes for next year’s football squad that is ranked in the top 25 by both Rivals and Scout. The highlight of the day for Illini fans had to be when Florida defensive tackle Corey Liuget stuck with the orange and blue when his LOI hit the football office fax machine at 10:26 am. On the other hand, Illini nation was dealt a bit of disappointment when highly touted Jacksonville-area running back Jamie Harper spurned the Illini and other programs for Clemson. But all in all, it was a good day for Ron Zook and his staff. Every recruit who was verbally committed signed on with the Zooker, so there were no surprises there.
And this is definitely the deepest class by far of the three Zook has pulled in since being in Champaign highlighted by athletes at receiver such as Cordale Scott and A.J. Jenkins, cornerbacks Patrick Nixon and Tavon Wilson, and tons of beef on both lines with Liuget, Graham Pocic, Reggie Ellis and Tyler Sands. Illinois also inked a quarterback for the post-Juice era with North Carolina native Jacob Charest. You can look at a full list of the class here.
For comments from Zook on the class and a live report from Adam Harris, tune into WPGU 107.1 FM at 5pm, also online at the217.com. You can also pick up a copy of Thursday’s Daily Illini and tune into WPGU Saturday at 6 pm for a full breakdown of the class, the Illini’s prospects for the class of 2009, and an exclusive interview with Cordale Scott.