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10:45 am
March 9, 2016
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Good morning. Welcome to the Orange Minute for Sunday, June 5.
Illinois football received an unexpected visitor at their Chicago satellite camp on Friday night. Four-star Iowa commit Juan Harris was one of over 150 high school players in attendance at Gately Stadium. 247Sports’ class-of-2017 rankings have the 6-foot-4, 368 pound lineman pegged as the No. 283 overall prospect.
Harris committed to the Hawkeyes way back in December of 2014, much to the surprise of our friends over at Black Heart Gold Pants. The Iowa native currently holds notable scholarship offers from Michigan, Wisconsin, Texas, Tennessee, and Louisville. Ohio State, Alabama, Florida State, and a dozen more big-time programs have also expressed interest.
So why the seemingly sudden decision to attend Illinois’ camp? It likely has something to do with Lovie Smith (shocker, I know). Harris is the nephew of former Chicago Bears defensive lineman Tommie Harris, who played several years under the new Illini coach.
Harris is obviously a massive, massive human being. I have feeling that he’ll eventually end up as an offensive lineman at the next level, but he’d make a great addition on either side of the ball for Illinois. The defensive line in particular is the biggest area of need going forward; a potential player like Harris would go a long way in solidifying things up front. Regardless, these are the types of recruiting battles that the Fighting Illini need to start winning, and the new coaching staff would be off to one hell of a start if they manage to eventually flip the Iowa native.
In other satellite camp news, we have confirmation that recent Illini commit Cameron Thomas is very, very fast.
#Illini QB commit Cam Thomas (@BillionaireCam_) ran two 4.5 40-yard dashes. Yeah, he’s fast.
— Jeremy Werner (@JWernerScout) June 5, 2016
That’s absurd for a quarterback. Thomas also took some time to talk to Jeremy Werner about getting coached up by his future offensive coordinator, Garrick McGee, at the camp. You can watch that interview right here.
Illinois Basketball News
– Illinois to host Central Michigan in December (The Champaign Room)
The Fighting Illini will play a non-conference game against the Central Michigan Chippewas on December 10. The contest will be played at the State Farm Center.
– Offseason Q&A with Malcolm Hill (Illini Inquirer)
Derek Piper: You’re going into your last season here. You still want to get to that NCAA tournament. Just talk about your sense of urgency and your focus.
Malcolm Hill: I wouldn’t say it’s an urgency, because I don’t want to put too much stress or thought into it. Like I said, when it happens, it happens. That’s the goal right now. I’m just going in trying to get better every day. And as a team, we’ll just get better each practice and take it one game at a time when the season gets here.
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