With prep football practice set to kick off Monday around Illinois, most of this year’s elite seniors have announced their commitments.
Only three players in the state’s consensus top 50 — as determined by the 247Sports composite rankings — have not announced a college choice.
Where are the rest headed and why? National recruiting analyst Clint Cosgrove helped break down some of the numbers and trends.
Big Ten country
It’s no surprise that the local Power Four conference has mined the state more actively than anyone else.
Of the top 50 prospects, 27 are committed to 11 Big Ten schools. Three programs account for more than half of those recruits: Illinois with seven and Northwestern and Purdue with four each.
Bret Bielema made it clear from the moment he took over a struggling Fighting Illini program in 2021 that he wanted to keep Illinois’ best talent at home. Bielema hired respected two-time state champion coach Pat Ryan of Metamora as director of high school relations and it’s helped to repair what had been a fractured relationship between the state’s flagship program and Illinois’ prep coaches.
Cosgrove noted that it wasn’t that long ago that Illinois rarely had a top in-state recruit in its class. But in the 2026 cycle, Bielema has commitments from a pair of four-star local prospects: Morgan Park receiver Nasir Rankin and Belleville West cornerback Nick Hankins.
“They put in the work,” Cosgrove said of Bielema and his staff. “He said he wanted to build from within. I think you’re seeing it pay dividends now.”
Northwestern long has mined the Chicago area for talent under former coach Pat Fitzgerald and current coach David Braun. The Wildcats’ 2026 class features one of the state’s elite quarterbacks in Fremd’s Johnny O’Brien and his teammate, offensive lineman Owen Jakubczak.
At Purdue, new coach Barry Odom is trying to resurrect a program that has struggled mightily in recent years. The highest-ranked of his local commits is Hillcrest edge rusher Max Carmicle.
“Barry Odom, he’s going to recruit the Midwest,” Cosgrove said. “If Purdue’s going to win in the Big Ten, they’ve got to win some recruiting battles in Illinois.”
The Big Ten’s West Coast members are starting to hit the Chicago area now, too. USC has 2026 commitments from Lincoln-Way East quarterback Jonas Williams and Mount Carmel defensive lineman Braeden Jones, while Lincoln-Way East receiver Blaise LaVista picked Washington.
“I think that’s going to continue to trend as these West Coast schools start playing here more,” Cosgrove said. “You’ve got to have some Midwest kids on your team if you want to hang and bang with the (traditional) Big Ten schools.”
SEC comes calling
The conference with the second-most commits among Illinois’ top 50 is the SEC with seven. All are in the top 35, including No. 1 Mack Sutter, a tight end from Dunlap heading to Alabama, and No. 5 JC Anderson, a Mount Zion tight end committed to Ole Miss.
The local SEC commits are Morgan Park defensive lineman Carmelow Reed (Ole Miss), Mount Carmel edge rusher Joey Quinn (Vanderbilt) and Young running back Max Warner (Missouri).
Cosgrove said SEC schools take a more targeted approach to Midwest recruiting than their Big Ten counterparts.
“Their coaches are coming up here for one kid and one kid only,” he said.
Quick hits
The other two Power Four leagues haven’t made much of an impact in Illinois in the 2026 cycle. The Big 12 has four local commits, while the ACC has just one — the same number as the Ivy League and the FCS Missouri Valley Conference.
On the other hand, the Group of Five’s Mid-American Conference continues to be a presence locally with six commits in the Illinois top 50 for 2026.
“The MAC number seems a little bit low from what it usually is,” Cosgrove said.
But with months to go till players make their commitments official, all the numbers are preliminary.