Bret Bielema has turned the Illinois football program around. A complete 180. The Fighting Illini are once again a respected (and highly-ranked) football program.
That includes dominance on the recruiting trail. For the first time in a long, long time, Bielema secured a top-25 recruiting class for the program, including 24 blue-chip prospects from the class of 2026.
This week, Rivals released its latest ranking of the top 300 players in the upcoming class, and one future Illinois player received the respect that he has deserved for quite a while. Four-star cornerback Nick Hankins flew up the rankings, rising from the No.