Illinois fans have seen the beginning of this phenomenon with the class of 2017, so far.
The Illini snagged talented wide receivers, Ricky Smalling, and Kendall Smith, in addition to running back Mike Epstein, for 2017. I am not confident that these players would be committed to the program today if Lovie wasn’t the head coach.
While the class of 2017 is starting to come together with Lovie at the helm, the first class he is going to have his full mark on is the class of 2018.
The Lovie Effect has already started to hit that class as well.