:format(webp)/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/19380685/20130906_gav_bl2_268.0.jpg)
We've spent a lot of time talking about basketball recruiting lately, and for good reason. However, there was something in the Chicago Tribune on Wednesday that grabbed my attention when I read it on Wednesday night.
One of the bonuses of our win over Cincinnati was that there were a couple major in-state recruits in the 2015 class in the stadium to see it. They were four-star wide receiver Miles Boykin and four-star quarterback Jack Beneventi. Well, it's much better having players like those two -- and all the recruits who were in town on Saturday -- see the Illini beating a respectable opponent by 28 points, especially when you consider the positions they play and the performance on offense.
Well, Boykin talked to the Tribune about the visit and said something that would be a dream come true.
It was the first college game the 6-foot-5, 210-pound Boykin took in as a recruit, but not his first encounter with Beneventi.
Boykin and the 6-6 Beneventi have known each other since seventh-grade hoops.
Boykin, Beneventi and another Illinois target from the Class of 2015, Marist receiver Flynn Nagel, have become good friends.
"We have been talking about how it would be cool to play together," Boykin said. "We may try to take some visits together. We all have Illinois offers and we've talked about how cool it would be if we all went there.
"But I think we all know we're going to make our own decisions. I'm not going to make my decision off what they do, and they're not going to make theirs off of mine."
Flynn Nagel is a four-star recruit as well, and obviously what Boykin said would be amazing if it were to come to fruition. Now, the odds of that actually happening are incredibly slim. Still, when you think about where this program has been both on the field and when it comes to recruiting the top talent in the state, the mere fact that top recruits are even mentioning all going to Illinois together makes your heart skip a beat doesn't it?
Of course, there's a long way to go before these guys will be signing their letters of intent. And while I have no idea where any of them are going to end up, I can't help but think the Illini are going to have a hard time keeping Beneventi from Notre Dame.
So I guess it's a good thing we have Jimmy Fitzgerald in our backyard.
Follow The Champaign Room on Twitter at @Champaign_Room and Like us on Facebook. You can follow Tom Fornelli on Twitter at @TomFornelli.