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May 20—CHAMPAIGN — Bret Bielema’s emphasis on recruiting the state of Illinois has included a further priority of keeping the players firmly in the Illini’s backyard home.
Bielema has had success on both fronts in his time as Illinois coach, with running backs Aidan Laughery (Gibson City) and Kaden Feagin (Atwood) two notable recruiting wins. The Illini secured another nearby in-state prospect Monday with a commitment from Mount Zion native Brayden Trimble.
Trimble is ranked as a three-star recruit in the Class of 2025 by 247Sports, Rivals and On3. The 6-foot-2, 170-pound wide receiver is Illinois’ sixth commitment in the class and fourth in-state prospect choosing to stay home.
Trimble earned News-Gazette All-State special mention recognition last fall after helping Mount Zion go 8-3, finish second in the Apollo Conference and reach the second round of the Class 4A playoffs. The Braves’ top target caught 69 passes for 981 yards and 12 touchdowns in 2023. Trimble was even more productive as a sophomore with 76 catches for 1,134 yards and 12 touchdowns in 2022.
Six other Big Ten teams pursued Trimble in the Class of 2025 among his more than a dozen total suitors. He had other offers from Arkansas, Auburn, Iowa, Iowa State, Kent State, Miami (Ohio), Michigan State, Minnesota, Mississippi, Nebraska, Northwestern, Texas A&M and Wisconsin.
Illinois’ now six-deep 2025 recruiting class ranks 14th in the Big Ten and 44th nationally, per On3, which is partly a reflection on total number of committed players. Ohio State and USC both have 12 commitments as the 1-2 among the Big Ten’s top-ranked recruiting classes. The rest of the Illini class includes Blue Island Eisenhower athlete Andre Lovett, Andrew offensive lineman Michael McDonough, Cardinal Ritter (Mo.) quarterback Carson Boyd, Stoughton (Wis.) offensive lineman Griffin…
Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/illinois-lands-state-wide-receiver-174800141.html
Author : The News-Gazette, Champaign-Urbana, Ill.
Publish date : 2024-05-20 17:48:00
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