1. Illinois football's bet on April official visits has hit big. Illinois hosted 13 uncommitted prospects for April official visits and has commitments from six of them already: three top-25 in-state prospects (WR Nasir Rankin, DL King Liggins and DL Tony Balanganayi) and three Florida prospects: RB Javari Barnett, DB Almirian Thomas and LB Tony Williams. And the Illini are still swinging for four-star targets who took official visits last month, including TE JC Anderson, TE Mack Sutter, OL Kai Pritchard, OL Micah Smith and DB Jacob Eberhart.
There was a risk in prioritizing April official visits. Most Power Four prospects make decisions in June and July. That means Illinois has to maintain momentum for those prospects potentially for months after hosting April official visitors, and the buzz from those visits can dissipate as they visit other campuses.