Commitment date and time set for massive Illinois football recruiting target

As of right now, the Illinois football team is putting together one of the best recruiting classes of my lifetime.

Over the past couple of decades, Illini recruiting hasn’t been great. Ron Zook had a few special hauls, but beyond that, we had just hoped to pull out a few diamonds in the rough. The Bret Bielema era is different, though.

Illinois currently sits with the No. 11 class in the country for 2026. Getting that high is something I never thought would happen this late in the game. The crazy part is, we aren’t done.

On Thursday night, massive Illinois recruiting target Nasir Rankin took to social media to announce that he was down to just five programs. He also noted that a commitment date and time were in play.

Rankin will announce his decision on Wednesday, May 21 at 4:30 p.m. CT/5:30 p.m. ET at his high school, Morgan Park. The decision will come down to just North Carolina, USC, Nebraska, Duke, and Illinois.

This is a huge recruit for all of the five programs listed. Rankin is a 5-foot-11.5, 180-pound athlete out of Moran Park High School in Illinois. He is rated as a four-star recruit and ranked as the No. 85 player in the class of 2026. He is also the No. 9 athlete in the country and the No. 2 player coming out of Illinois.

Illinois’ biggest contender for Nasir Rankin is a fellow Big Ten foe

It is hard to predict where a player is going to commit, especially in the age of Name, Image, and Likeness. There are a lot of teams that have deep pockets when it comes to NIL, and the top five for Rankin all can throw dollars at the kid.

I also believe you have to look at where a program is on the field. While most people think kids are only looking for money, Rankin needs to go somewhere he can develop and make it to the next level.

Illinois has all of the things Rankin would want in a program. We can offer him the NIL dollars. While football isn’t likely our top NIL sport, Illinois has proven we aren’t stingy with the money.

In the latest NFL Draft, Illinois also had Pat Bryant head to the NFL. We are starting to put more offensive talent into the professional ranks, and overall, Illinois has been able to elevate players to the NFL level under Bielema’s leadership.

With that being said, I would argue North Carolina is out because of the chaos that is going on there. Duke probably doesn’t have the NIL dollars to compete, as they dump most of their money into the basketball program. Those are just opinions.

USC is intriguing, as they surely have a massive war chest. The program has been down, though. I don’t think they will be in the mix. When it is all said and done, I think this commitment is going to be between Illinois and Nebraska.

The Cornhuskers are starting to actually get their stuff together. They are Nebraska, so there will always be dollars to throw at NIL. They were already able to land one of the top quarterbacks in the country for 2027, Trae Taylor, who is from Illinois.

I see Nebraska growing into more of a problem for the Illini in the coming years when it comes to recruiting. The recruitment of Rankin will be a nice measuring stick to see if the Illini can compete and win against another program with deeper pockets.