Satellite camps help Illini find talent
Summer brings football camps around the state, and the University of Illinois has put on satellite camps at Maine South, Lincoln WayEast and Gately Stadium. Scholarship offers have come for several underclassmen, including Oswego rising junior quarterback Steven Frank, after strong camp performances.
Frank, who is 6-4 and 210 pounds, landed offers from Illinois, Miami (Ohio) and Illinois State.
‘‘After I got done throwing at the Illinois satellite camp, the coaches told me they liked what they saw and offered me,’’ Frank said. ‘‘I am excited about finally getting a Big Ten offer, and I feel like Illinois is a program that is starting to build up again.’’
Defensive backs Drake Spears of West Aurora and Julian Love of Nazareth also received offers after their camp performances.
‘‘I got my first offer from the University of Illinois,’’ Spears said. ‘‘It feels good. I wasn’t expecting to get offered so soon, but I am happy I got the first offer.
‘‘I just didn’t know what to say when coach Tim Beckman offered me. I just shook his hand and said, ‘Thank you.’ ’’
Spears and Love attended the camp at Maine South and were part of a talented group of defensive backs.
‘‘I immediately thought that I’m one step closer to graduating to college and getting to play football there,’’ Love said. ‘‘[Illinois defensive coordinator] Tim Banks and I got really close at the camp.’’
One lineman — Evanston’s Naquan Jones — also added Illinois to his list of offers. Jones is 6-4 and 294 pounds.
‘‘After I got done with camp, coach Banks asked me which position I liked better, defensive end or tight end,’’ Jones said. ‘‘I told him I like defense more. He said, ‘If you stick with defense, I believe there is an offer coming your way.’ I was excited and just have to keep working hard.’’
Duerig has offers
Offensive lineman Andrejas Duerig transferred to Mount Carmel in January and has picked up lots of recruiting interest and several scholarship offers since then. It has been a long journey for Duerig, whose first love was hockey.
‘‘I used to live in Illinois when I was younger, then we moved to Indiana, and I wasn’t a big football guy for my first seven years,’’ Duerig said. ‘‘Then I thought I wanted to do football. I couldn’t do hockey because I have a size-17 foot and I couldn’t find skates. I did football, though, and I liked it and just kind of went from there.’’
Duerig, a 6-4, 280-pounder, has received offers from Syracuse, Austin Peay, Buffalo, Illinois State, Toledo and Western Michigan.
‘‘I am just kind of letting the recruiting handle itself,’’ Duerig said. ‘‘Anything that has to do with college is a great thing. Academics are very important to me. From a very young age, my mom and dad have been pushing me that grades come first.’’