You can feel the buzz around the team still going strong and the recruiting is also coming together nicely.
The class of 2017 is starting to really look good. There are some solid building blocks that will be stars on this team for years to come.
A piece of this Illini resurgence will be wide receiver Ricky Smalling.
Smalling is a 6-foot-1, 200-pound, wide receiver out of Brother Rice High School in Chicago, Illinois. He is an extremely talented player that is highly rated as well.
Scout has Smalling rated as a 4-star recruit that is the 48th best wide receiver in the country and the 2nd best wide receiver in the state of Illinois.