Catching up with Illini football recuiting: Lots of GOOD NEWS!!!

Coach Ron Zook and his hard-working staff have been running all over the country since the Illini football season ended. And all that hard work is starting to pay off: To steal a clever marketing phrase from the marketing folks at Lexus, it's been a "December to Remember" for the Illini football family.

After Thornton Township's stud wide receiver Anthony Morris and Washington, DC superstar Arrelious Benn verballed to Coach Zook and the Illini back on November 9, several other highly-ranked athletes have jumped on the Illini football bandwagon. Here's a list of the newest UI verbal commitments:

S #39 *** Brian Gamble
(Washington HS)
Massillon, OH
6-0/190
Verballed: 12/05/2006

RB NR * Troy Pollard
(Andrew Jackson HS)
Jacksonville, FL
5-8/175/4.50
Verballed: 12/05/2006

C #11 *** Mark Jackson
(Harmony Community School Midd)
Cincinnati, OH
6-5/290/5.20
Verballed: 12/11/2006

WLB NR ** Erique Robertson
(Maple Heights Senior HS)
Maple Heights, OH
5-11/210
Verballed: 12/11/2006

S NR ** Darius Purcell
(Hubbard HS)
Chicago, IL
5-11/215/4.60
Verballed: 12/11/2006

RB JC * Daniel Dufrene
(College of the Sequoias)
Visalia, CA
5-11/205/4.45
Verballed: 12/12/2006

DT #3 ***** D'Angelo McCray
(Andrew Jackson HS)
Jacksonville, FL
6-4/290/4.85
Verballed: 12/14/2006

OT #26 **** Jack Cornell
(Quincy Notre Dame HS)
Quincy, IL
6-7/305/4.90
Verballed: 12/19/2006

For more on these student-athletes, check out Scout.com.

Welcome, one and all, to Fighting Illini football and congratulations on your decisions! We're very excited to have you all with us!!!

NOTE: Simeon's outstanding DE Martez Wilson is to announce his school of choice this evening in a press conference in Chicago. The buzz on the street is that 'Tez is also coming to UI - keep your fingers crossed, Illini fans...