Illinois football, Bret Bielema are heating up on the recruiting trail

Heading into the month of June, Illinois football had three commits. Actually, on the morning of June 11, Illinois was stuck at three commits.

Man, has that ever changed quickly.

As of the evening of June 12, Illinois is sitting at eight commitments as the Illini have skyrocketed from the bottom of the Power Five in terms of recruiting rankings all the way up to No. 43.

Brey Bielema is putting in some serious work, and he’s not done yet.

It feels like the Illini are starting to climb up the Big Ten West power rankings every week and Bielema is a big reason for that. He took a dead program and turned it into a contender in a short period of time but no one should be shocked after seeing the success he had at Wisconsin.

This is just the beginning for the Illini.

Illinois football is building something special

After landing the No. 54 class nationally in 2023 with three four-stars leading the way, the 2024 class looks to be on track to be even better. While it doesn’t have a single four-star committed yet, that’s surely going to happen soon during or right after official visit season.

Suppose the first two weeks of official visits are any indication. In that case, Illinois is sparking some excitement in the recruiting landscape, as evidenced by those five commitments in the past two days.

Top-500 prospects Tysean Griffin and Eddie Tuerk committed on Monday along with unranked receiver Carlos Orr. On Sunday, it was three-star linebacker Easton Baker and three-star defensive lineman Demetrius John that committed to the Illini.

If there were any doubters of Bielema heading into official visit season, those are now crushed or, at the very least, fading away.