TE Boyer staying home with Illinois

Chicago (Ill.) Brother Rice junior tight end recruit Henry Boyer (6-foot-7, 250 pounds) decided this morning to wrap up his recruiting process and gave the University of Illinois his verbal commitment. Boyer gave us a few minutes to discuss his decision here.

"Why not Illinois," Boyer said when asked why he decided to commit to the Fighting Illini. "I love the staff at Illinois and they have everything I was looking for in a school. I'll get to play and stay at home for Illinois and it's just a great and fit for me on so many levels."

Boyer, who took a self guided tour of the Illinois camps this past weekend pointed towards several key factors which led to his decision.

"I took a self guided tour of Illinois this past weekend and it's just the place I want to be. Illinois has an amazing campus and facilities. They offer a world class education and I know I will graduate with a great degree from Illinois. I also have a lot of faith in the coaches at Illinois to keep building up the football program and it's exciting to be a part of the recruiting class at Illinois. Hopefully I can also help start getting more of the great in state players to stay at home and play for Illinois."

So why make his decision this early in his recruiting process?

"For me I feel like it's the right time to make my decision. Illinois has been really great with me on so many levels and they really sold me on what they have to offer on and off the field. Once I was on campus last weekend I knew that Illinois was going to be the place for me. I was able to take different Zoom tours and talks but seeing everything in person really made a big difference."

Boyer is now the seventh known verbal commitment for the University of Illinois Class of 2022. Boyer is also the third known in-state commitment joining Rochester WR Hank Beatty and Iroquois West OL Clayton Leonard.

Stay tuned for more on this breaking story.