Illinois Lands All-Conference JUCO Defensive Back to Bolster Secondary

In nine games as a redshirt sophomore at Long Beach City College in California last year, Turner made 30 tackles and intercepted two passes. Prior to his stint at Long Beach, Turner spent two seasons at UMass. As a true freshman in 2022, Turner appeared in one game, and as a redshirt freshman in 2023, Turner – an East Long Beach, California, native – appeared in five.

Turner still has two more years of eligibility and can potentially play both safety and corner. And if he doesn't see much action on defense this year, he could potentially get playing time on special teams.

If you read Tuesday's article about Turner, we said don't be surprised if Turner is wearing orange and blue come fall camp. But even we didn't expect it to happen so fast. At the end of day, Illinois coach Bret Bielema is arguably putting together his best recruiting class – especially after landing three-star defensive tackle King Liggins and four-star recruit Nasir Rankin on Wednesday – since taking over in 2021.

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