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It Doesn't Look Like Cliff Alexander Will Make An Official Visit To Illinois

Though that doesn't mean you should start flinging yourself off of any buildings.

Bradley Leeb-US PRESSWIRE

Remember how Cliff Alexander told us what four schools he'd be taking official visits to, and then said that he might make an unofficial to Illinois as well? Yeah, well, it looks as though if Cliff visits Illinois again it'll certainly be the unofficial variety.

I'll give you a minute to stop freaking out.

You good? Okay, let's finish this post then.

Relax, this is not the end of the world, I promise. While I've been skeptical that Alexander will end up at Illinois all along, this does not mean that Illinois is out of the running. As I said in the post about his other official visits, it's possible that Cliff is using his official visits just as a way to get to campuses he hasn't been to at no cost.

Schools pay for official visits, but unofficial visits are on the recruit and his family. It's much cheaper for Cliff to visit Illinois than it would be Florida or Arizona. It's also important to remember that even though recruits plan official visits, they don't always make them. Sometimes a decision is made beforehand.

There's another way to look at it too, of course.*

It could just be that those message board rumors are all true and Cliff already knows he's coming to Illinois, he's just drawing out his recruitment to make sure coaches keep coming out to see him and possibly help his teammates get some attention. And the official visits are nothing but paid vacations where he gets to be treated like a conquering hero for a couple of days.

Who the hell wouldn't want that kind of treatment? I'm sure that's exactly what's happening here.

So have no fear, it's in the bag!

*This is not what's happening, but if it makes your life easier to believe this is the case, I'm sure as hell not going to try and make your life any more difficult than it already is.

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