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It's been a while since Illinois landed an impact player from Lombard's Montini Catholic football factory.
That drought ended when running back Nick Fedanzo committed to Illinois this afternoon.
I am beyond excited to announce that I am going to be continuing my academic and athletic career at the University of Illinois. I’d like to thank all of my coaches, family, and friends for helping me get to where I am today! #ILLGANG19 #B1G pic.twitter.com/A8eMNhlznb
— Nick Fedanzo (@fedanzo13) June 22, 2018
Illinois offered in March of this year, and quietly worked this recruitment before finally closing it down while Fedanzo visited this weekend.
Fedanzo is a top-40 in-state player with few Division I offers — including Air Force, Ball State and Kent State — but if you watch his film, you can see why Illinois likes his game so much.
Unlike Kyron Cumby —who committed yesterday and is more of a scatback receiver type — Fedanzo brings size, speed and between the tackles tenacity to the Illini backfield.
Standing at 6-foot, and weighing 200 pounds, his tape clearly shows a hard-nosed runner who brings a Mike Epstein-like jack of all trades quality to the running back competition next year.
He, like most freshman, could use a redshirt season, but he has all the makings of a solid contributor both on offense and on special teams as a return man.
Illinois now has seven commitments for the class of 2019, and they've brought a nice speed element to the team that has been sorely lacking in recent years. Fedanzo looks to be a nice addition.
Illinois Football 2019 Commits June 22
Player | Posistion | Height | Weight | Hometown |
---|---|---|---|---|
Player | Posistion | Height | Weight | Hometown |
Isaiah Williams | QB/Ath | 5' 10" | 170 lbs | St. Louis |
Marquez Beason | WR/DB | 5' 11" | 173 lbs | Dallas |
Bryce Childress | WR | 5' 9" | 159 lbs | St. Louis |
Joseph Thompson | DB | 5' 10" | 160 lbs | Chicago |
Griffin Moore | TE | 6' 4" | 225 lbs | Bloomington, Ill. |
D'Ante Cox (Walk-on transfer) | WR | 6' 1" | 180 lbs | Rochester, Ill. |
Kyron Cumby | RB | 5' 7" | 160 lbs | Plano, Texas |
Nick Fedanzo | RB | 6' 0" | 200 lbs | Lombard, Ill. |