Do all roads suddenly lead into and out of Champaign in central Illinois when it comes to college football recruiting of the area’s top players?
Time will tell.
One of them, Oswego East’s Jared Badie, certainly hopes so.
“It’s just something ’bout the boys back home,” Badie posted on Twitter on the Fourth of July, announcing he was committing to first-year coach Bret Bielema and Illinois.
Be it from high school commits like Badie or those using the NCAA’s transfer portal highway, the new coaching staff is generating considerably more homegrown recruiting traffic since Bielema’s hiring in December than in the previous five years of Lovie Smith’s regime.
A 6-foot-5, 220-pound outside linebacker who plays the edge in Oswego East’s 3-4 alignment, Badie is reportedly the seventh in-state commit to Bielema from the 2022 class. All are ranked in the top 30 by most scouting services.
Badie had 18 scholarship offers that included other Big Ten schools Purdue, Indiana, Minnesota, Michigan State and Nebraska, along with Tennessee, Arizona State, Cincinnati, Louisville and Iowa State.
He’s the most highly recruited player from Oswego East in the program’s 15 years.
Badie visited Tennessee, Minnesota and Michigan State. He made two visits to Illinois.
“That definitely made it tougher,” Badie said. “I visited a lot of great universities and there were a lot of places to grow as a person and football player. It ultimately came down to Illinois and Tennessee.
“I really couldn’t pass up the family aspect that Illinois provided. You could tell the guys love each other and the staff.”
Two other factors were key.
“Having the opportunity to play for the flagship program in the state and a chance to help build a contender for a conference title, I really found appealing,” Badie said. “I think there are a lot of like-minded guys.”
Badie is especially close to a trio of in-state players who committed to the Illini shortly before him.
It sounds like he’s getting the band back together by joining linebacker Malachi Hood and running back Jordan Anderson, both of Joliet Catholic, and Fenwick wide receiver Eian Pugh at Illinois.
“I’ve grown up playing with or against them in football and basketball,” Badie said. “It’s a childhood factor. There were plenty of times we would talk about playing together somewhere in college.”
Another familiar face will be there when Badie reaches Champaign.
Oswego East graduate Keion Battle, a sophomore wide receiver, has transferred to Illinois and is listed on the Illini roster after one year at Northern Illinois.
The 6-1, 185-pound Battle is the son of Kenny Battle, former basketball standout from West Aurora who played at Northern Illinois and then at Illinois for the 1989 Flyin’ Illini.
The younger Battle appeared in two games with no receptions for the Huskies in their abbreviated six-game season this past spring.
“They were loaded with a large number of freshmen in the program,” Kenny Battle said. “He traveled and made every road trip and got in some games, but it’s tough when you feel you should be playing more.
“The coaches told him to be patient, but the Battles are never patient when it comes to playing time.”
It led to the decision for Keion Battle, a biology major at Northern Illinois, to enter the transfer portal.
“He was looking for an opportunity to further his football career,” Kenny Battle said. “And the academic possibilities excite him, too.”
“With coach Bielema and his staff and a new system at Illinois, it’s a great chance for him. He can follow in his father’s footsteps.”
Where Badie and Battle go, others may follow, too.