Illinois Will Be 'Big Player' For Wes Lunt

I think it's been too long since we've had an update or a post about Wes Lunt, so here is a post about Wes Lunt that sort of has an update to it.

Nobody has been able to talk to Wes Lunt or his family since his transfer was announced which has led to a lot of people contacting Lunt's high school coach at Rochester, Derek Leonard, to ask him about Lunt's plans instead. One of those people was Jeremy Werner who was told by Leonard that Illinois will be a "big player" during Lunt's transfer from Oklahoma State.

"I will say this, Coach Cubit's offense is definitely directed in Wes Lunt's wheelhouse," Leonard told Werner. "He is an Illinois fan. It's close to home. I think all those factors go into it. I think Coach Beckman's done a great job. Me and Coach Beckman have talked about a million times over the last few months. We've gotten to really know him, like him a lot. He's done a really good job.

"Maybe when it's all said and done, he's an Illinois fan and maybe that's one of the big factors. It sounds dumb, but after going through the process, you know what, at least you're somewhere where you really care. At Oklahoma State, they didn't care too much about central Illinois or Rochester, Illinois, for that matter - and they shouldn't have. But when you're at Illinois, you're in Champaign. Central Illinois does matter. Rochester and the schools in central Illinois do matter. So maybe that holds a little more weight and has more importance. That's a big factor too, to be honest with you."

So, again, while it's not going to be the only factor in Lunt's decision, it does sound like the location of Illinois and the fact he grew up an Illini fan will definitely factor in and works to our advantage. As does the new offense under Bill Cubit, as Leonard mentioned.

Another factor in our favor is a chance at playing time. I don't think Tim Beckman or Cubit would promise Lunt the starting job when he gets here, but by the time he's eligible to play he'll be battling with Reilly O'Toole and Aaron Bailey for the right. Meaning he'll have a good shot at earning the starting job with three years of eligibility remaining.

So while the Illini may not have had the same record of success that other programs Lunt is looking at have, there's obviously a lot about Illinois that would be appealing to Lunt.

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