2021 LB Zardzin pledges to Illinois
Mount Prospect (Ill.) Prospect senior linebacker prospect Luke Zardzin (6-foot-1, 210 pounds) had been searching for an opportunity and a college to call home for months, and on Tuesday Zardzin decided to accept a Preferred Walk On spot from the University of Illinois. Zardzin discusses his verbal commitment to the University of Illinois here.
"My head coach (Dan DeBoeuf) sent the Illinois coaches my senior season tape and that really started to get things rolling with them," Zardzin said. "I made a visit to see Illinois in person and I just fell in love with the school. I knew right then I was ready to commit to Illinois so when they offered me a PWO I took it right away."
Zardzin, who played running back and linebacker for the Prospect Knights (5-1) this past spring pointed towards several key factors in his decision to pledge to the Fighting Illini.
"I was really impressed with everything at Illinois on my visit. I also know (former Prospect OL and current Illinois OL) Alex Palczewski well and it's great to have a friend and mentor already on the roster at Illinois. Illinois has a beautiful campus and amazing facilities. I was also able to talk with the Illinois coaches along with some of the players at Illinois including Donnie Navarro who was also a preferred walk on. I knew about his story but it was great to talk with Donnie and ask him about his experience at Illinois. The new staff at Illinois also has the program on the rise and they are great people."
Zardzin is also thrilled to finally put his long and extended recruiting process behind him.
"I started the recruiting process a long time ago. About halfway through the process I decided to just focus on my own game and how I play and hopefully I could end up earning a spot and just trying to find the best overall opportunity for me to earn a scholarship offer. I also had a PWO offer from Iowa, which was great but in the end I decided Illinois was too good of an opportunity to pass up."
Zardzin, who will major in Sports Management at Illinois was offered a PWO spot as a linebacker for the Fighting Illini.
"I played running back for my school more out of need, and I always thought I would end up playing linebacker in college. The Illinois coaches feel they can get bigger and stronger and they think I can get to 230-235 pounds in college."
Luke Zardzin is verbally committed to Illinois.