McMillen discusses his Illinois pledge
Wheaton (Ill.) St. Francis three star ranked junior offensive center recruit TJ McMillen (6-foot-3, 260 pounds) decided on Friday night to commit to the University of Illinois and announced his decision via his Twitter account just minutes ago. McMillen discusses his decision to give the University of Illinois his verbal commitment in this breaking recruiting update.
"I just fell in love with the coaches at Illinois and the message that they have for the program and the future of Illinois football," McMillen said. "I honestly didn't really consider Illinois a ton until they offered me a scholarship a few weeks ago. Ever since they offered we've been in touch all the time with the coaches at Illinois and after taking to them again on Friday I told them my decision."
McMillen , who was recruited by the Fighting Illini as an offensive center discussed some of the reasons why he decided to give the Fighting Illini his verbal commitment.
"I mean I grew up watching Illinois football and once I got to know the coaches at Illinois they are the type of coaches I want to play for in college. Illinois just has so much to offer playing in the Big ten along with offering a great education and degree. Illinois is in state so I'll be able to play closer to home and my family will be able to see me play my college games in state. I looked at and had a lot of offers from other schools, but everything that Illinois has to offer was just too hard for me to pass up so I committed."
Look for McMillen to now become a vocal lead recruiter for the Fighting Illini in the Class of 2023.
"Oh you know I'll be talking to a lot of kids out there to come to Illinois. I know a lot of the in state kids already and I'll be hitting them up soon and having them look into Illinois. I definitely want to do whatever I can to help us bring in the top kids in state every year and I really feel we can do that from here on out."
McMillen is also also relieved to be able to put his college decision behind him this late spring.
"It felt like a relief yesterday after telling the Illinois coaches my decision. It's a big weight off my shoulders and it was definitely hard to tell the other coaches I was going to commit to another school. It's an unfortunate part of the recruiting process but I feel great about my decision and I'm making the best choice for myself with Illinois. You can only pick"
McMillen is now the third known verbal commitment in the Fighting Illini Class of 2023 and is also the third in state commitment. McMillen joins East St. Louis three star ranked LB Antwon Hayden and Arthur-Lovington four star ranked ATH Kaden Feagin in the Fighting Illini Class of 2023.
TJ McMillen is verbally committed to the University of Illinois.