Illinois State again tops Land of Lincoln FCS programs with most in-state prep players

Illinois State teammates Jake Anderson (97) of Durand High School and Reese Edwards (10) of Springfield Sacred Heart-Griffin celebrate after the Redbirds’ first-round FCS playoff win last fall. (Photo by GoRedbirds.com)

By Dan Verdun

Of the four Land of Lincoln FCS programs, Illinois State has continued its trend of having the most in-state prep players.

Those four Illinois FCS rosters include 164 state prep athletes, while another 89 Illinois-bred players appear on out-of-state rosters in the Missouri Valley Football Conference and the OVC-Big South Football Association.

According to its official roster, ISU lists 58 players from state high school programs. That number marks an increase from 56 last year and speaks to a long-term commitment from Rockford native Brock Spack, the longtime Redbirds’ head coach.

“To me it’s a combination of things. First of all, start with the head coach, who is an Illinois born-and-bred kid who seems to have remained loyal to the high school level,” said Rivals.com recruiting analyst “Edgy Tim” O’Halloran. “He preaches about high schools and bringing in kids from in-state schools. And he’s lived up to it.”

Since taking over the ISU program in 2009, Spack has become the school’s all-time winningest coach. He has taken the Redbirds to the playoffs six times, including a national runner-up finish.

O’Halloran said the team’s success and ISU’s upgraded facilities, along with the university’s academic reputation and location, as reasons the program has flourished in recruiting.

“In a lot of cases, you have to drive past Illinois State to get to other schools,” O’Halloran said. “Their proximity to Chicagoland is important. It’s a couple of hours away at the most.”

O’Halloran, who has covered the Illinois prep recruiting scene since 1995, also noted ISU’s enrollment has climbed in recent years.

“It continues to be a very popular stop. There’s a lot to offer and Bloomington-Normal has a ton with restaurants, bars and things to do,” he said.

In a Prairie State Pigskin review of all four FCS rosters, Western Illinois ranks second with 39 homegrown players on its roster this fall. The Leathernecks, under second-year head coach Joe Davis, saw an increase of four Illinois prep players from a season ago.

Eastern Illinois and Southern Illinois list 36 and 31 players from the state, respectively.

The EIU number is down significantly from last season, when the Panthers opened 2024 with 52 prep players from the state. EIU saw a large turnover on its roster because of graduations and transfer portal additions.

Skill positions on the rise

Asked if a certain position group has grown most among the state’s recruited prep players, O’Halloran said skill positions stand out.

“They’ve definitely gotten better, or at least they’re in demand more here than they have been in awhile,” he said. “There have been more receivers, and the quarterback room the last couple of years has been really good.”

Case in point: Three of the four Illinois FCS schools could start Illinois prep quarterbacks this season. ISU’s Tommy Rittenhouse (Wheaton St. Francis) and SIU’s D.J. Williams (Thornton Township) entered fall camp as clear No. 1s.

Redshirt sophomore Blainey Dowling (Chicago Mount Carmel) is battling Colorado native and Big Ten transfer Cole LaCrue for the EIU starting job.

O’Halloran cited the growth of private skill training coaches and facilities as a major factor.

“In the not-too-recent past, kids would just go sport to sport and maybe do a little 7-on-7 in the offseason,” he said. “Now you’ve got kids working with wide receiver coaches, defensive back coaches, linebacker coaches. But the most important one is the quarterback development.

“All three (Rittenhouse, Williams and Dowling) did a lot of work on their own (with private coaches). There were kids that did that years ago, but now you’re talking massive numbers. These quarterback coaches are constantly running year-round sessions and you’re talking fifth- and sixth-graders and up going to these guys every year. That position has been taken to a whole different level now.”

In addition, O’Halloran said, recruiting classes have been “less linemen-heavy” than in the past.

“We used to have 20-to-25-plus major D-I kids as linemen here in the state. I don’t know if all the big people just moved out or what, but we haven’t had that in awhile,” he said. 

O’Halloran was the 2025 recipient of the Illinois High School Football Coaches Association Ray Eliot Award, given to an individual who has made valuable contributions to the game. He noted that Illinois State’s attention to in-state players has meant challenging FBS schools.

“They’ve done a really good job and actually competed with some of the Mid-American Conference schools,” he said. 

According to school websites, players from Illinois high schools include:

Illinois State Redbirds (58)

DB Dallas Amos (Evanston)

DL Jake Anderson (Durand)

WR Nick Arogundade (Loyola Academy)

OL Micah Barnhart (Canton)

LB Patrick Bauer (St. Viator)

DL Jack Bochenczak (Providence Catholic)

OL Logan Brasfeld (Yorkville)

LS Dylan Calabrese (Kaneland)

WR Gavin Camp (Normal West)

DB Rico Clay (Quincy)

LB Ben Cooper (Maine West)

K Michael Cosentino (Glenbrook North)

K/P Ari Daniels (Lincoln-Way East)

DB Jack Dwyer (Lake Zurich)

DB Jashawn Echols (Lincoln-Way East)

LB Reese Edwards (Springfield Sacred Heart-Griffin)

DL Ivan Erickson (Marmion)

OL Jacob Finley (Williamsville)

WR Mar’Quan Gary (Normal Community)

WR Stevan Gavric (Libertyville)

LB Josh Gettemy (Yorkville)

RB Seth Glatz (Morton)

TE Brady Goken (Wheaton Warrenville South)

OL Mark Helm (Glenwood)

OL Chris Hill Jr. (Reed-Custer)

OL Luke Johnsen (Geneseo)

DL Travis Jones (Herscher)

RB Mason King (Centralia)

QB Cooper Kmet (St. Viator)

LB Nate Kraus (Yorkville)

RB Matt Lawson (Hoffman Estates)

RB Tyler Lofton (Brother Rice)

DL Christian Lorenzo (DeKalb)

DB Camden Mass (Normal Community)

WR Kaevion Mack (Peoria)

WR Luke Mailander (Elmhurst York)

K Matt Maldonado (Yorkville)

OL Jack McGarry (Hinsdale Central)

DL Dominic McKibbin (Bloomington Central Catholic)

OL Cooper Monk (Manteno)

DB Wyatt Mueller (Quincy Notre Dame)

LB Dexter Niekamp (Normal Community)

LB Tye Niekamp (Normal Community)

DB Emmanuel Ofosu (Loyola Academy)

WR Luke Olson (Notre Dame College Prep)

OL Jace Pankey (Iroquois West)

FB Scotty Presson Jr. (East St. Louis)

QB Tommy Rittenhouse (Wheaton St. Francis)

WR Andrew Rockford (Springfield Sacred Heart-Griffin)

K Casey Roney (West Aurora)

WR Daniel Sobkowicz (Rolling Meadows)

WR Travis Stamm (Lyons Township)

DB Chris Taylor (Normal Community)

TE Nick True (Jacobs)

OL Ben Wallace (Metamora)

LS Bryce Waszczk (Maine South)

WR Ian Willis (Wheaton St. Francis)

TE Max Ziebarth (Normal West)

Western Illinois Leathernecks (39)

OL Dorian Arguelles (Edwardsville)

WR Fabian Baez (Schaumburg)

OL Jeremiah Banks-Wall (Lombard Montini)

DB Mayo Bola (Glenbard North)

DL Trace Brown (Plainfield South)

DB Nick Bucaro (Bartlett)

LB Justin Buckner (St. Rita)

DB Tyrese Buffkin (Glenbard East)

DB Keon Collier (Chicago Simeon/St. Thomas More Prep)

K Ronan Culkin (Brother Rice)

WR Tristin Duncan (Effingham)

LB Joe Edwards (Downers Grove North)

DL Keshawn Harrington-McKinney (Machesney Park Harlem)

WR A.J. Harris (Niles North)

WR Aric Johnson (Kaneland)

DB Willie Jones (Chicago Phillips)

LB Ethan Ladd (Macomb)

OL Tommy Lamberti (Carmel Catholic)

K Kacper Lobas (Argo)

DB Harlon May (Carmel Catholic)

OL Ryan McCombs (Jacksonville)

OL Jackson Metzdorff (Bloomington Central Catholic)

OL Dagen Miller (Lombard Montini)

DL Payne Miller (Princeton)

LB Cameron Nickel (Metamora)

DL Oshobi Odior (Oswego East)

LB Jaylen Olakun (Homewood-Flossmoor)

DB Matthew Perry (Chicago Mount Carmel)

LB Christian Pierce (Brother Rice)

DL Nick Prestipino (Amundsen)

OL Zac Price (Charleston)

DL Ethan Sather (Hersey)

OL Aidan Sharpe McClary (Barrington)

OL Luca Siamashvili (Stevenson)

LB Brock Sperling (Chicago Christian)

WR Sasha Summers (St. Viator)

RB Calen Taylor (Normal Community)

RB Ernest Temple (Thornton Fractional South)

TE Alex Williams (Geneva/Fork Union Military HS)

Eastern Illinois Panthers (36)

DL Aidan Archibald (Charleston)

OL Alejandro Arellano (Sterling)

RB Chris Caldwell (O’Fallon)

K Nico Carrier (Metea Valley)

LB Kennyan Chandler (Kankakee)

S Dillon Conway (Chicago Mount Carmel)

QB Kevin Conway (Providence Catholic)

QB Blainey Dowling (Chicago Mount Carmel)

OL Dominic Fasano (Plainfield North)

DL Tyler Fortis (Maine South)

LS Brett Galletti (Lincoln-Way East)

DB Isaiah Houi (Hononegah)

LB Davian Humphrey (Chicago Phillips)

OL Kwan Johnson (Eisenhower)

OL Rahfeeq Katumbusi (Chicago Mount Carmel)

LB Cale Kimbro (Mattoon)

RB Zeke Lewis (Decatur St. Teresa)

WR Max Loveall (Richmond-Burton)

OL Panayiotis Mihalopoulos (Loyola Academy)

DB Le’Javier Payne (Chicago Mount Carmel)

K Ruben Popoca (Carmel Catholic)

LB Jett Reese (DePaul College Prep)

WR Jeremy Reeves (Gary Comer College Prep)

P Aaron Rice (Neuqua Valley)

WR Quenton Rogers (Mahomet-Seymour)

K Drew Schiller (Lincoln-Way Central)

DL Barron Sholl (Boylan Central Catholic)

DL Cole Silzer (Lockport)

DL King Smith (Decatur MacArthur)

QB Joey Sprinkle (Monticello)

LB Jordyn Stewart (Homewood-Flossmoor)

WR Jack Tremblay (Lincoln-Way East)

DL Drake Van Hyfte (Annawan-Wethersfield)

LB Brock VanDeveer (Mahomet-Seymour)

WR Cooper Willman (Sterling)

WR Johnovan Wysinger (Morgan Park)

Southern Illinois Salukis (31)

LS Ryan Algrim (Kaneland)

OL Brendan Bisgrove (Oswego)

LB Colin Bohanek (Marist)

DT Max Bremer (Massac County)

OL Liam Carney (Wauconda)

DL Vontrell Chairse (Phillips)

LS Jace Clark (Carbondale)

QB Jake Curry (Edwardsville)

LB Ben Fiegel (Batavia)

OL Donte Green (Plainfield South)

LB Stephen Green (Collinsville)

OL Blaine Halley (Olympia)

CB Naz Hill (Kankakee)

S Juwaan Holmes (Peoria Richwoods)

OL Jacob Katauskas (Lemont)

TE Karsen Konkel (Pinckneyville)

S Clayton Lakatos (Edwardsville)

OL Owen Lee (Carbondale)

WR Fabian McCray (Phillips)

TE Aiden Moriarty (Oswego East)

LB David Obadein (Plainfield South)

ATH Arshawn Powell (Evergreen Park)

QB Owen Rann (Harrisburg)

S Chase Reynolds (Collinsville)

LB Colby Ryan (Cumberland)

WR Blayne Sisson (Mount Carmel)

WR Kyle Thomas (Marian Catholic)

DT Gavin Tinch (Prairie Ridge)

LB Shug Walker (Civic Memorial)

LB Charles Whelpley (Batavia)

QB D.J. Williams (Thornton Township)

Leaving the state

Of course not all of Illinois’ recruited players wind up in Normal, Macomb, Charleston or Carbondale.

The Missouri Valley Football Conference, in which Illinois State and SIU play, features 55 players at non-Illinois schools. Thirty-seven percent of those athletes are at Indiana State, situated in Terre Haute, just across the Illinois border.

“Rashad Rochelle was a heckuva player coming out of Springfield,” O’Halloran said of the Indiana State receiver who began his career at Rutgers.

North Dakota linebacker Malachi McNeal (Warren Township) was another player O’Halloran highlighted.

“Very good player, maybe an inch or two too short for the Power 4 (schools) and the MACs of the world, but he was high level,” O’Halloran said of the 6-foot, 200-pound McNeal, who had offers from SIU, Missouri State and Kent State out of high school.

The Ohio Valley-Big South Football Association, a nine-team league including EIU and WIU, has 33 Illinois prep players at out-of-state programs. Eighty-five percent of those athletes are at either suburban St. Louis-based Lindenwood or Southeast Missouri State, a short drive from Carbondale.

According to each school’s website, players from Illinois high schools include:

MVFC

Indiana State (20)

DL Brandon Amaniampong (Downers Grove South)

DB Edward Amankwah (Lincoln-Way East)

OL Jacek Biaszynski (Lemont)

DL Sirmaine Campbell (Rich Township)

DB Zach Coleman (Marian Catholic)

WR Torey French (Carmel Catholic)

LB Kaden Gajewski (Nashville)

DL Kolten Gajewski (Nashville)

DB Gavin Hagan (Providence Catholic)

QB Baruk Jonsson (Mascoutah)

OL Bradyn Mazanowski (Normal Community)

LB Micah McNair (Joliet West)

QB Elijah Owens (Jacksonville)

LB Jamere Pendleton (Chicago/Brownsburg, Ind.)

TE Lance Rees (Marshall)

WR Rashad Rochelle (Springfield)

WR Keshon Singleton (Springfield Sacred Heart-Griffin)

LS Joseph Sopiarz (Glenbard North)

OL Gabe Winans (Paris)

WR Talan White (Lincoln-Way East)

Northern Iowa (8)

RB Harrison Bey-Buie (Moline/Bettendorf)

DL Hyson Bey-Buie (Moline)

WR Jeremiah Cain (Oswego)

LS Kyle Kopzynski (Naperville Central)

WR Grant Larkin (Neuqua Valley)

QB Cole McThenia (Marian Central Catholic)

CB Jeremiah Powers (Lincoln-Way East)

LB Kaiser Williams (Naperville North)

South Dakota State (7)

QB Jon Bell (Naperville North)

CB Myles Green (Homewood-Flossmoor)

DB Isaiah Johnson (Marian Catholic)

OL Jackson Kerstin (Naperville North)

OL Ian Mutchler (Morton)

DL Kevin Spelman (Providence Catholic)

S Carter York (Sycamore)

North Dakota (6)

DB Tyler Erkman (Lake Zurich)

DB Jayden Jones (Chicago Mount Carmel)

WR Jimmie Maxon III (Brother Rice)

LB Malachi McNeal (Warren Township)

WR Korey Tai (Glenbard West)

OL Kuba Tyszka (Ridgewood)

North Dakota State (6)

CB Jailen Duffie (Warren Township)

QB Nathan Hayes (St. Charles East)

DE Kelton McCaslin (St. Charles East)

RB Myles Mitchell (Richards)

LB Noah Taylor (Lemont)

WR Kelly Watson (Elmhurst York)

South Dakota (6)

LB Wade Abrams (Cary-Grove)

LB Lincoln Adams (Lake Zurich)

QB Nevan Cremascoli (New Trier)

RB Julius Ellens (Glenbard West)

QB Nick Mayfield (Chicago Eisenhower)

DB Matt Walsh (Evergreen Park)

Youngstown State (3)

DL Ajayi Ajaga (Carmel Catholic)

DB Dayne Hodge (Rock Island)

WR Max Tomczak (Lincoln-Way East)

Murray State (0)

OVC/Big South

Lindenwood (15)

DT Chris Abihudi (Hampshire)

WR John Anthony (Chicago/Venice)

WR Christopher Bennett Jr. (East St. Louis)

OL Nate Compere (Crystal Lake South)

K Will Graham (Centralia)

K Brogan Hartmann (O’Fallon)

OL Logan Hunter (Johnston City)

WR Nick Mauzardo (Naperville North)

DB Sam Owens (Decatur MacArthur)

WR Jalen Smith (O’Fallon)

OL Aiden Taylor (East St. Louis)

RB La’Revious Woods (East St. Louis)

DB Luke York (Yorkville)

OL Danny Zarco (Lyons Township)

DT Andrew Zook (Yorkville)

Southeast Missouri (13)

RB Brandon Brigham (Homewood-Flossmoor)

DL Jehchys Brown (Centralia)

CB Purvis Brunson (Niles North)

DL Nasim Cairo (Edwardsville)

LB Michael Cardilli (Lincoln-Way East)

LB Cole Dutkovich (Neuqua Valley)

QB Gibson Fager (Murphysboro)

OL Chris Farrell (Lisle)

OL Patton Leib (Belleville Althoff Catholic)

DL Steve Lewis (Pontiac)

LS Jackson Marx (Rock Island Alleman)

OL Hayden Volz (Edwardsville)

LB Jeremy Walton (Warren Township)

Tennessee-Martin (3)

QB Luke Dyer (Mahomet-Seymour)

K/P Brandon Sims (Jacksonville)

TE Hyatt Timosciek (Lockport)

Tennessee State (2)

DB Jayden Cook (Lincoln-Way East)

DB Dominique Dixon (St. Louis, Ill.-Cardinal Ritter College Prep)

Charleston Southern, Gardner-Webb, Tennessee Tech (0)

Dan Verdun is a co-founder of Prairie State Pigskin. He has written four books: NIU Huskies Football, EIU Panthers Football, ISU Redbirds Football and SIU Salukis Football.

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