RANTOUL — Football academies are popular on the East Coast.
The academies, designed to shore up a youngster’s academics and give him a better chance to play college football, are practically nonexistent in the Midwest, according to former Illinois offensive lineman Marques Sullivan.
Sullivan will bring what he says is the first such academy to this region of the country when his Midwest Prep Academy is set to occupy the grounds of the former Camp Rantoul.
A former Illini under Ron Turner, who initiated Camp Rantoul, Sullivan said he saw the value of the Rantoul camp while a college player and never considered moving his prep school anywhere else.