Presson pledges to Illinois State

East St. Louis (Ill.) senior tight end recruit Scott Presson (6-foot-3, 225 pounds) decided to give Illinois State University his verbal commitment on Wednesday afternoon. Presson discusses his decision and more in this recruiting update.

"Illinois State has just always been involved with me and my recruiting," Presson said. "They really recruited me hard going back to last year. The coaches just keep it real with me and I was ready so I committed."

Presson, who is now the fifth in state commitment for the Illinois State Redbirds Class of 2021 pointed to several factors in his decision.

"The Illinois State coaches really helped me and guided me. They let me know that I needed to improve my grades and what I needed to do to become a scholarship player for them. Illinois State has a great school and a great football program and they play in a great conference (Missouri Valley). The Illinois State coaches stuck by me and didn't give up on me which was important to me."

Presson, who also considered both Toledo and Central Missouri (D2) has yet to make a recruiting visit to Illinois State in person but knows the Bloomington-Normal area well.

"I really wasn't able to make any visits because of COVID but I've been to Bloomington a bunch of times for different things like camps and 7on7 events. I really like the campus and it's also a great school. Illinois State also sent me a ton of information and videos and I was able to ask them any questions I had about the school and the football program. I had a lot of information already and I felt good about having all the information I needed to make my decision."

Presson is also thrilled to put his recruiting process behind him this summer.

"I'm real glad to get it done now. I definitely wanted to make a decision before my season. I can just go out and play now and not worry about recruiting at all."

Presson is also excited for his upcoming 2020 season.

"I'm real excited for the season. I'm in way better shape this season and worked hard on my conditioning this off season. I also worked on having better footwork and hands. I'm also working on defense and learning the inside linebacker position and I might get some work at linebacker as well."

Scott Presson is verbally committed to Illinois State.