The Weekly Stalker: Illini Offer Four-Star Quarterback Chance Stewart

Let's start The Weekly Stalker off by congratulating myself for not making a pun with the name Chance Stewart in the headline. It would have been easy to do, and therefore I passed the opportunity up. Because that's what a professional does.

Only hacks make the chance pun for the offers. The pros know you wait until he actually commits.

But let's get to the point. Illinois offered four-star quarterback Chance Stewart a scholarship this week. Stewart was one of 16 recruits and over 70 prospects who visited Champaign for a Junior Day last weekend, and apparently the coaches liked what they saw.

"I'm thankful for the offer," Stewart told Rivals. "It means a lot. Anytime you're lucky enough to receive a scholarship it's a big deal. I had a great time with Coach Cubit and had a good feeling all day."

If Stewart's name is familiar to you it could be because he originally committed to Wisconsin back in August, but then Bret Bielema left for Arkansas after the season and Stewart re-opened his recruitment. Which could be very good news for the Illini.

Now, I know that Aaron Bailey isn't even here yet, but I'm of the opinion that you can never have enough talented quarterbacks on your roster, and Stewart is a talented quarterback. He's also a pro-style quarterback that is 6'6 and 205 pounds. That's a big boy, and a big boy who is well-suited to what Bill Cubit likes to do.

So just because I'm optimistic about Aaron Bailey's future here, that doesn't mean I don't want as much competition as possible for him, and Stewart would be just that. So Stewart is definitely a name we should keep an eye on over the next few months.

Elsewhere

-- Just in case you missed it earlier this week, we have the first two members of the 2014 football class. Both defensive end Tito Odenigbo and offensive lineman Nick Allegretti committed to the Illini on Monday.

-- Also in the category of big news from earlier this week, five-star point guard JaQuan Lyle cut his list down to six schools and the Illini are one of those six.

-- Matt Daniels takes a look at what John Groce could be looking for in his 2015 recruiting class.

-- Trey Knes was another player in town for Junior Day, and he also picked up an offer for his effort. The 6'2 225-pound outside linebacker from Chesterfield, Missouri was caught "completely off-guard" and he also said his first official offer is "huge for me."

-- Cliff Alexander talks about Illinois and what he likes about it. Honestly, I still don't think he's going to come here, but the more I hear what he has to say the more I wonder if he just might.

-- Wide receiver Nolan Jackson-Daniel plans on visiting Illinois over his spring break. He caught the eye of a lot of schools last summer, but missed most of the 2012 season with an injury, which has slowed his recruitment down a bit. Right now his only offer is from Buffalo, but he's talked to the Illini, Northwestern, Michigan, Purdue and Penn State plenty.

-- Defensive end Dewayne Hendrix is a guy I'd like to see come to Illinois, but a lot of other schools feel the same way. He added offers from Iowa State and Kansas this week, bringing his total number of offers to 16, including Florida, Iowa, Nebraska and Tennessee amongst others.