As I’m sure most of you big recruiting followers already know, Illinois football picked up a huge recruiting victory today when news broke that East St. Louis wide receiver Kraig Appleton announced he will commit to the Orange and Blue on Tuesday. This story originally broke on illinihq.com with Bob Asmussen and Jeremy Werner doing the honors. Here’s a video of the incoming high school senior in action…

He is a big receiver that always looks the ball in and rounds out a class of receivers that looks to be impressive for the Illini in the next couple of years. Appleton also joins two of his high school teammates, WR Terry Hawthorne and S Tommie Hopkins, as Orange and Blue commits in the class of 2009.Even with the commitment, however, Appleton will still be taking all five of his alotted official visits in the fall even while being committed to Ron Z ook’s program. The five programs he will be visiting during the fall include LSU, Wisconsin, Notre Dame, Texas Tech and Ohio State. It’s amazing to see how far this Illini program has come now it is competing for players on the recruiting trail with programs on par with the ones Appleton will be visiting.

Appleton’s commitment tomorrow will mark the 12th verbal for the 2009 Fighting Illini recruiting class. The committed players, with Scout.com star rankings, follows:

WR Kraig Appleton **** East St. Louis, IL

RB Bud Golden *** Cincinatti, OH

OL Jake Feldmeyer ** Centerville, OH

OL Andrew Carter **** Tallahasse, FL

WR Terry Hawthorne *** East St. Louis, IL

S Tommie Hopkins ** East St. Louis, IL

QB Nathan Scheelhaase **** Kansas City, MO

WR Steve Hull *** Cincinatti, OH

CB Joelil Thrash ** Washington DC

FB Greg Fuller ** Harvey, IL (Thorton Township)

DT Lendell Buckner **** Chicago, IL (Leo)

OL Leon Hill *** Chicago, IL (Leo)

With some of the athletes the Illini staff brought into the receiving corps in the last two years, this class, and Florida transfer Jarred Fayson, the Illini will have quite a few athletes for Juice Williams to look for when he is a senior quarterback.

For those of you deadspin readers that miss UI alumnus and former editor Will Leitch, this, along with Appleton’s commit, might cheer you up:

Maybe Zook was doing this before he got to Rantoul

The following post was written by staff writer Jeremy Werner.

Basketball Complex and the Assembly Hall were buzzing with high school basketball excitement on Sunday for the University of Illinois team shootout.

The shootout showcased many talents that could soon be wearing orange and blue.

- Despite being kicked off Waukegan in February for arguing with coaches, Jereme Richmond played for the Bulldogs on Sunday. The 6-foot-6 Illinois verbal commit showed plenty of the talent that makes him a consensus top-10 recruit in the Class of 2010. He had a put-back slam off a rebound, hanging on the rim for a second after the dunk to the delight of some Illinois players and coaches.

Richmond is by far the most talented player on his team, which seemed to frustrate him quite a bit. He did not seem happy after Waukegan’s game against Limestone, talking to his parents with an annoyed look on his face.

- Limestone sophomore Donivine Stewart looks more like a football player than a basketball player. Illinois assistant Jerrance Howard doesn’t expect the 5-foot-10 point guard to grow much more but said it shouldn’t be a problem because he is “stocky.”

Stewart plays more like a senior than a sophomore. He was constantly communicating with teammates and looks like the type of leader any coach would want. Stewart received an offer from Weber as a freshman and hasn’t received an offer from any other school. He said playing with Richmond and Crandall Head would be a benefit of committing to Illinois.

“I like (Richmond’s) game,” Stewart said. “He’s big. He can be a force on the inside or outside.”

- Illinois commits Joseph Bertrand (Sterling) and Brandon Paul (Warren) got a firsthand glimpse at each other. The future teammates defended each other, and it made for a pretty entertaining basketball game. Both were offensive forces. Each time one made a spectacular move or shot, the other seemed to follow with an equally impressive play.

“(Bertrand’s) really explosive,” Paul said. “He’s really explosive.”

“(Paul’s) a really good player,” Bertrand said. “It was really fun playing against him.”

- Former Chicago Bull Dickie Simpkins was in attendance to watch Warren’s Brandon Paul. Simpkins has taken Paul under his wings as his offseason coach. Paul has seen his value increase lately and could have the most potential of any 2009 recruit.

- Crandall Head did not play in the shootout but was in attendance. Head is deciding on whether to return to Rich South for his junior season. Scout.com’s No. 12 prospect in the Class of 2010 said he has not made a decision yet.

Head said he has been lifting weights and working on his shot with his brother, Houston Rockets guard and former Illinois player Luther Head.

- Tyler Griffey, a 6-foot-8 forward from Wildwood, Mo., showed up to the shootout as well despite his team not being in the field. Griffey has been participating in the adidas Nations program and has been coached by former NBA coaches Paul Silas and Dwayne Casey.

Griffey said he will not participate in as many AAU tournaments because he is committed to Illinois. He said taking some time away from the AAU circuit will allow him to get stronger in the weight room.

When I went to ESPN.com this morning, it was somewhat vindicating to see some support for what I wrote about last week. NCAA lists five major violations against Sampson, Indiana Staff The NCAA alleges Sampson broke five more recruiting rules. This includes breaking rules during which he was already under sanction.

As I wrote last week, I do not think that Kelvin Sampson should be allowed to coach in the NCAA at least for a given period of time. There needs to be stricter penalties for those who cheat so that they don’t think its ok to do so.

When I went on to espn.com this morning the two big stories were about steroids in baseball and this. What happened to going on to ESPN.com to see highlights from a baseball game, or a preview of a good basketball matchup.

Some may counter that ESPN is sensationalizing this news. I on the other hand think that its cheating that has gotten out of hand and that leagues and organizations should clear house of anyone who knowingly cheats the rules.

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.