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Recruiting Wrap

Illini rekindle relationship with Keith Sconiers

Posted by: Jeremy Werner

Friday, August 28, 2009 9:59 AM

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Keith Sconiers has been highly recruited by several BCS programs for the past couple of months. But the Oak Lawn (Ill.) Richards wide receiver hadn't heard much from his home state's flagship university for a while. That changed Tuesday.

"I talked to Illinois (on Tuesday)," Sconiers said. "They said I'm still really high on their list. They just have to wait for a couple things to be moved around, and I should be seeing an offer soon."

Sconiers, a 6-foot-2, 175-pound senior, said he thinks the Illini could be trying to revitalize his recruitment after missing out on a few of the state's higher ranked receivers.

"Matt Milton just (committed to Tennessee); (Kyle) Prater is favoring USC, so I think now they will (recruit me harder)," Sconiers said.

The Richards star said the Illini's lukewarm recruitment "kind of" turned him off but that he "still likes the school" after visiting the Champaign-Urbana campus several times during the past year.

Illinois may have some catching up to do with Sconiers. He currently holds offers from Arizona, Akron, Eastern Michigan, Indiana, Louisville, Minnesota and Western Michigan. He also has interest from Iowa, Purdue, Tennessee and Wisconsin.

He visited the Louisville and Tennessee campuses during the summer.

"Tennessee, I just got to see the campus and the weight room. The coaches were in meetings, but I got to see the stadium. It was the biggest stadium I ever saw. They can fit over like 100,000 people.

"We got to spend a lot of time at Louisville. We were at Louisville for like two hours. We got to have a meeting and sit with the coaches. They toured us around and everything. I got to see the dorms and everything on campus there."

Asked if any schools are sticking out, Sconiers replied: "I like Louisville because they seem like they really want me a lot. They took the time and seemed like they had a schedule for me when I went down for my visit. I like that."

Sconiers, who caught 31 passes for more than 650 yards last season, said he doesn't have a timetable for his decision. Right now, he's more focused on leading Richards back to the postseason after last year's 4-5 record ended a 23-year-streak of qualifying for the IHSA playoffs.

"We return like 18 starters," Sconiers said. "We have pretty much the whole offense back and the whole defense back, so we should be really good this year. We had a couple juniors that really stepped up a lot."

RECRUITING RAMBLINGS

With the 2009 high school season underway, the Recruiting Wrap will again provide an update on how Illinois commits and targets performed during the weekend's games each Monday. So check the IlliniHQ.com recruiting blog every Monday to find out how future Illini quarterback Chandler Whitmer, top-rated tight end C.J. Fiedorowicz and other Illini recruits are faring on the gridiron.