Chicago (Ill.) Marist receiver Jadon Thompson had an eventful week. He received all-Conference honors and picked up a big time scholarship offer.
Thompson announced an offer from the University of Illinois on Thursday evening. This is his first offer from from a Power-5 program.
“It’s a huge opportunity to get the chance to play at U of I. Everything is turning around there so it a huge opportunity to play somewhere like that,” said Thompson.
Illinois is very particular in the athletes they offer. For him to be offered as a sophomore means the coaches see lots of potential in him. Luke Butkus was the Illini coach who let him know the news.
“He (Butkus) was just talking about how in order to make Illinois great again they have to recruit in the midwest and in our state.”
Illinois has seen the top players in the state bypass them and have success at other schools. In order for Illinois to have sustained success in the B1G 10 they will need to start winning recruiting battles for in-state prospects.
Thomson will surely continue to hear from more programs. This spring he will once again return to BOOM for the 7on-7 season. His long arms and height make him a difficult matchup in the red zone but he also had the speed to stretch the field on the outside.