Bret Bielema tapping into rare Illinois football recruiting pipeline

Bret Bielema tapping into rare Illinois football recruiting pipeline

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Bret Bielema tapping into rare Illinois football recruiting pipeline
Illinois football head coach Bret Bielema
Oregon head coach Dan Lanning, left, and Illinois head coach Bret Bielema talk before the game as the No. 1 Oregon Ducks host the No. 21 Illinois Fighting Illini Saturday, Oct. 26, 2024 at Autzen Stadium in Eugene, Ore. | Ben Lonergan/The Register-Guard / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Illinois football had a solid weekend of recruiting that was the kickoff to what will hopefully be a fruitful month of June.

It all started with a commitment from Cade Newman on Saturday. Gavin Ericson-Staton then flipped his commitment to the Illini from Iowa State on Sunday. The commitment train continued on Monday, as Illinois brought in another commitment from the official visit weekend.

Ryan Paulsen took to social media to announce that he has committed to the Orange and Blue.

Paulsen is a 6-foot-4, 230-pound edge from Central DeWitt High School in Iowa. He is rated as a three-star recruit and ranked as the No. 1137 player in the class of 2027. He is also the No. 93 edge in the country and the No. 12 player coming out of Iowa.

Illinois won this recruitment over some pretty tough competition. Paulsen had scholarship offers from teams like Missouri, Kansas, and Iowa State, among others. Bret Bielema ended up securing his commitment, though.

Illinois football landing a commitment from Ryan Paulsen helps build the pipeline to a really rare recruiting area

It is great that the Illini are building the class of 2027. We now have seven commitments and a national recruiting ranking of No. 59 in the country.

There haven't been any massive gets yet for the Illini, but it is hard at this point in time, considering there is so much money being thrown around, and we aren't a football school.

With that being said, I think it is interesting what Bielema is doing with recruiting. Illinois just landed Paulsen. He joins Newman as one of the two members of Illinois' class of 2027 who are from the state of Iowa.

I know that doesn't sound like much and won't blow anyone away, but you probably don't get the significance of what I just said.

Illinois has two players committed from the state of Iowa. This is Bielema's sixth full recruiting class. He has never had a single player from the state of Iowa commit to the program. Not one.

For the class of 2027, Bielema has started to build that pipeline. It was nonexistent before this recruiting class. He is a great area for recruiting, especially when it comes to outside linebackers and tight ends.

This is only the beginning of what is building for 2027. Bielema has done a solid job starting this group, and I can't wait to see how it ends.

This article was originally published on www.writingillini.com as Bret Bielema tapping into rare Illinois football recruiting pipeline.

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