Lovie Smith and Fighting Illini football just landed one of their top recruiting targets. On Monday morning, three-star quarterback Coran Taylor (IL) became the first member of Illinois’ 2018 class by announcing a verbal commitment to the program on his Twitter page.
According to 247Sports, Taylor is the nation’s No. 974 overall player and No. 34 dual-threat quarterback. While Northwestern and Iowa had displayed interest, Illinois State and Miami (OH) were the only other schools with scholarship offers on the table.
Taylor, a Peoria product, received his scholarship offer shortly after leading the Lions to an IHSA 5A State Championship last Winter.