Weekly Recruiting Rewind: 2025 and 2026 Prospects

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Prep Redzone Illinois had a busy week keeping up with everything going on across the state on the recruiting trail!&nbsp; So much so we had to break it into two parts!&nbsp; Here we look at the junior and senior prospects in <strong>Weekly Recruiting Rewind: 2025 and 2026 Prospects</strong>!</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong><u>Class of 2025</u></strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='831102' first='Kendrick' last='Lyons'] (East St. Louis)</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Lyons was one of the most underrated quarterbacks in the 2025 class with his athleticism and accuracy.&nbsp; He committed to McKendree where he will be a monster!</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1564824' first='Logan' last='Davis'] (Althoff)</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Davis opened up a lot of holes for the 1A state champs this past season.&nbsp; He made his college choice committing to Central Missouri.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1292780' first='Mikey' last='Varon'] (Fremd)</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Varon is a physical offensive lineman that announced his commitment to Ball State this week.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='358308' first='Carter' last='York'] (Sycamore)</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The Sycamore wide receiver made his commitment this week to attend FCS power South Dakota State!</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong><u>Class of 2026</u></strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='801887' first='Nasir' last='Rankin'] (Morgan Park)</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Three offers rolled in for this star wide receiver and safety who secured scholrships from Kansas, Kansas State, and Mizzou.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Claude Mpouma (Mt. Carmel)</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The state's top offensive lineman scored offers this week from Mizzou, Syracuse, Indiana, and Purdue.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='801700' first='Mack' last='Sutter'] (Dunlap)</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The Dunlap star tight end had in home visits with Michigan, Iowa, Penn State, and Illini.&nbsp; He also recently had Penn State head coach [player_tooltip player_id='1400840' first='James' last='Franklin'] come to his hoops game.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1399927' first='Gabriel' last='Hill'] (Naperville North)</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Hill is one of the best defensive lineman in the class.&nbsp; Cincinnati, Syracuse, and Kansas State all extended offers.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1399937' first='Gavin' last='Mueller'] (South Elgin)</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Another standout tight end in this class is Mueller who recently transferred to South Elgin.  He got new offers from NC State and Ole Miss along with hosting Auburn for an in home. On Thursday he had coaches visit him at school from Michigan, Rutgers, Duke, Northwestern, Purdue, and NC State.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1538329' first='Joey' last='Quinn'] (Mt. Carmel)</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The explosive defensive end from Chicago landed offers from Louisville, Minnesota, and Vanderbilt along with hosting in home visits with Iowa State along with Toledo.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='208769' first='King' last='Liggins'] (Brother Rice)</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Defensive lineman from Brother Rice scored an offer from Cincinnati along with being re-offered by Miami (OH).&nbsp; Also hosted Virginia for an in-home visit.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='212322' first='Zachary' last='Washington'] (Wheaton St. Francis)</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The star wide receiver from Wheaton St. Francis reeled in five offers courtesy of Nebraska, Michigan State, Kansas State, Louisville, and Purdue.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='325063' first='Rico' last='Schrieber'] (Marist)</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The 6'7” massive offensive tackle from Marist added Louisville to his list of offers.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1399932' first='Tony' last='Balanganayi'] (Palatine)</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Big week for the super athletic tackle from Palatine as he landed offers from Michigan State, Kansas State, and Louisville.&nbsp; Also will be at Illinois on Sunday for their junior day.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='801991' first='Owen' last='Fors'] (Barrington)</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Fors is another one of the top big men up front in the junior class.&nbsp; He landed offers Michigan State, Iowa State, and Purdue this week.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='401605' first='Gene' last='Riordan'] (Hinsdale Central)</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The run on offensive lineman scoring offers in bunches continues with this Hinsdale Central star scoring scholarships from Kansas State, Louisville, and Iowa State.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1585113' first='Max' last='Carmicle'] (Hillcrest)</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The fact that he has committed to Northern Illinois isn't slowing down Big 10 programs from offering this south suburbs EDGE as he got another one from Wisconsin.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Devyon Hill-Lomax (Edwardsville)</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Hill-Lomax is a long and athletic vertical threat at the wide receiver position.&nbsp; Miami (OH) extended him an offer.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='801701' first='Jonathan' last='Rulo'] (Belleville East)</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>One of the most productive defensive tackles in the state this past season was Rulo who was also offered by Miami (OH).</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='537245' first='Jayden' last='Marshall'] (Crete Monee)</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Marshall is a big time defensive back that has all the tools you look for at the next level.&nbsp; Toledo and Miami (OH) offered him this week.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1585119' first='Nick' last='Hankins'] (Belleville West)</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Hankins is a hooper who we saw drop 20+ this week.&nbsp; His future is as a corner at the next level as Iowa State, Purdue, Vanderbilt, Iowa, and Stanford all extended offers.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Brady Palmer (Wheaton St. Francis)</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The quarterback standout from Wheaton St. Francis lands an offer from Yale!</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Maxwell Wagner (Whitney Young)</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Warner will be in the running for the top running back in the 2026 class.&nbsp; He landed an offer this week from Minnesota along with recent ones from Wisconsin and Purdue.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Jacob Palucki (Andrew)</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>This Andrew offensive lineman secured his latest offer from Bowling Green along with having Northwestern in to visit him recently.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='401621' first='Leon' last='Howard'] (East St. Louis)</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The offers are starting to come in for one of the top linebackers in the state as the metro east star landed scholarships from Lindenwood, Illinois State, and Eastern Michigan in the last couple of days.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Terrell Berryhill (East St. Louis)</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The long and athletic lefty tackle has a ton of upside!&nbsp; Lindenwood saw that and extended an offer.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='401614' first='Keaton' last='Reinke'] (St. Charles North)</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>This 2026 wide receiver scored an offer North Dakota State after a big junior campaign.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1128408' first='Armaad' last='Sharp'] (East St. Louis)</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>We really liked what we saw out of Sharp this season and so did Miami (OH) offering him.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1120487' first='Ryan' last='Myers'] (Batavia)</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Myers is an offensive lineman to watch as Miami (OH) offered him and he will be at Northwestern for their junior day.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->