Highly-rated Simeon football recruit commits to play for Illini
CHICAGO (CBS) – The Illini football program seems to be building something and head coach Bret Bielema has clearly put a focus on trying to keep the best Chicago and Illinois players in state.
This past weekend, the Illini got a big-time commitment from a spectacular highlight-producing wide receiver from Simeon in Chicago. CBS 2's Matt Zahn had the story.
Malik Elzy made it official. The four-star receiver announced his keeping his talents in Illinois playing for Bielema in Champaign.
"I knew I was going to Illinois like a month prior to it," Elzy said. "It was amazing getting it off my chest."
Why Illinois?
"Why not? Why not stay home?" Elzy said. "I see what coach Bielema is doing at Illinois. He's trying to change the program around. By doing that, you gotta keep the top state kids in state, and I feel like I can stay in state and just be that pipeline for the kids under my and after me to stay home."
That's something the Illini haven't always done, keeping the top player in Illinois. Elzy is the program's highest ranked in-state prospect since 2015 and highest from the Chicago Public High School League since 2007.
"It's big for Illinois," said Simeon head football coach Dante Culbreath. "It's big for Chicago. It's big for Simeon when it comes to somebody staying home and having the name that Malik has created for himself. So it's really significant."
And according to Culbreath, the Illini are getting a heck of a person to go with his amazing athletic ability. That ability was on display many times at Simeon, where he often made the spectacular play look easy.
"They gonna get a dog," Elzy said. "They gonna get a dog most definitely. When they throw up the jump ball, it's not no 50/50 for me. It's 100/0. It's going to be my ball."
Like most high-level athletes, Elzy has of course put in a lot of hard work to get to this point. But during the pandemic, when COVID-19 shut everything down, he took that to another level, working out in an alley.
"I just wanted to work," Elzy said. "I had nowhere to work, so my coach was like, 'C'mon, we can go to the alley.' I worked with some guys, like George. He's a tight end at (Northern Illinois University), so he worked out in the alley. We bench pressed, lifted weights. I grinded."
All that grinding has paid off for Elzy.
"I put in a lot of work, a lot of tired, late nights," he said. "It was all worth it though. I can tell you that."
Elzy is also the highest-rated receiver recruit for the Illini since Arrelious Benn in 2007, who had a pretty great career in Champaign.
