Illinois Receives One of the Most Significant Commitments of Bret Bielema Era

If a few years from now Illinois football has evolved into a national contender, Wednesday may well be the day that is viewed as perhaps the most pivotal of the Bret Bielema era.

An hour after the Illini landed lauded three-star defensive lineman King Liggins (Brother Rice), Bielema was greeted with the news that Morgan Park's Nasir Rankin – a four-star athlete and another in-state star – was committing to Illinois.

But Rankin gave Illini fans a brief scare at the moment of truth during Wednesday's announcement, streamed on 247 Sports. Rankin's five finalists included Duke, Illinois, Nebraska, North Carolina and USC, each school represented with a cap – five spread across the table where Rankin, his mother and his father sat for his announcement.

In a scene Illinois backers have endured too many times over the years, Rankin first donned the Illini cap, then tossed it aside. He went on to do the same with all four remaining hats before reaching behind the table to grab another orange-and-blue brim and unzip his hoodie to reveal an Illinois T-shirt underneath. The Illini were the pick after all.

"It was really important," Rankin said of the relationships he fostered with the coaches and staff in Champaign during the recruiting process. "You know, we built a good relationship for a pretty long time, so a lot of trust was built there in between. I feel like it was the right decision. They put a lot of guys in the NFL, and I feel I could be the next one."

At 5-foot-11½, 180 pounds senior-to-be, Rankin is a tad undersized for a typical Big Ten receiver, but his speed, explosiveness and ability to create separation before the catch and elude defenders after it made him a top-100 recruit and the second-ranked player out of Illinois in the class of 2026 (per 247 Sports) for good reason.

The interesting wrinkle in Rankin's recruitment is that he also had an offer from coach Brad Underwood to play basketball in Champaign. He averaged 23.2 points, 3.3 rebounds, 3.3 assists and 2.6 steals as a junior on the court for the Mustangs.