DeKalb (Ill.) junior three star ranked wide receiver recruit Davon Grant (6-foot-4, 200 pounds) has decided to wrap up his recruiting process and tonight gave the University of Illinois his verbal commitment. Grant, who is now the Fighting Illini first verbal commitment in the Class of 2026 discusses his decision here.
"Illinois is just the best place for me and I feel very good about my decision," Grant said. "I really gave everything a lot of thought recently and the more I thought about everything the more I was ready to give Illinois my commitment. It's exciting to announce my decision and tell everyone I'm committed to Illinois."
Grant pointed toward some key factors which led to his commitment.
"Illinois was just always in constant contact with me and they always made me feel like I was a big priority for them. I was one of the first receivers that they offered in this class and I was just able to build up some great relationships with the coaches including Coach (Dre) Brown and Coach (Justin) Stepp. I have a school I can call home in Illinois and it's just exciting."
So why make such an early decision?
"I just really wanted to have it locked down with Illinois. I know kids will sometimes wait and play things out but in my case I just feel like Illinois has everything I'm looking for in a school. Illinois offers a great education. It's Big Ten football and I'll be able to earn a great degree and also still be pretty close to home for my family and my friends. The last thing I would ever want to do is wait on things just to wait and then lose an opportunity like the one I have at Illinois. I can just focus on school and my season now and also focus on getting better every day and get ready to play at Illinois. I know other schools and coaches will still call and recruit me and they have a job to do, but I'm committed to Illinois and have no plans on that changing."
Grant also admitted that the 2024 10-3 season and bowl win for Illinois had a positive impact on his final decision.
"It definitely played a big role and I really followed them all season long. Illinois had a great season and it just showed that Coach B (Bret Bielema) was able to get the football program back to its winning ways and they are headed in the right direction. Now I can't wait to come in and help take the football program at Illinois even higher."
Also look Grant to become a very vocal recruiter for the Fighting Illini, especially when it comes to in state names. .
"I'm definitely going to work hard to get my guys to come to Illinois. Just tell all of those in state recruits that I'm coming to get them and so is Illinois."
Davon Grant is verbally committed to Illinois.
