Illinois Football: Evan Fields Intrigued By Lovie Smith and the Illini

Published Jun. 30, 2017 6:28 p.m. ET

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The Illinois football team isn’t done recruiting the class of 2017.  They still have a decent amount of players to sign to fill out the roster.

Lovie Smith and his coaching staff have done a nice job filling out the offense.   They have 8 out of the 11 players committed on the offensive side of the ball.

This bodes well in the future for an offense that Illini fans have seen sputter many times this season.

But, one of my main concerns is on the defense side of the ball.

Illinois has three players committed to play defense in 2017 and that only includes one defensive back in Tony Adams.

Getting more defensive back help is needed greatly and that is where Evan Fields would come into play.

Fields is a 6-foot-2, 191-pound, safety out of Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.  He is ranked as the No. 871 best player in the class of 2017 and the No. 13 player in the state of Oklahoma.

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Just three days ago on November 14, Fields was offered a scholarship to the University of Illinois.  This was a nice offer by the Illini and they actually might be in the hunt to get an official visit as well.

So far, Fields has only been on two official visits and those were to Kansas State on November 5 and Oklahoma State on November 12.

Lovie is at such a disadvantage when recruiting a high caliber player like Fields due to his late start.  He is trying to get players to commit to Illinois after only recruiting them for eight months.

But, despite the late start, Lovie could be getting a chance at Fields.

Fields isn’t looking for much in a program.  He told the Writing Illini that he just wants a good opportunity to succeed.

One way a program can entice Fields is playing time.  This is an area that Illinois could really push when it comes to getting in the mix for him.

“Well, the coaches told me they feel like I could come in and compete for early playing time,” Fields said, “that’s intriguing to me.”

Playing time is one area that I think we can all agree is plentiful in Champaign.

Illinois currently has some young talent on the team, but no one is sure just how good they can be.  This is probably why Fields can come in and compete right away.

The recruiting competition is just heating up for Fields.  He hasn’t set a ‘top’ list yet and there isn’t a commitment date set either, but one thing is certain, whoever snags Fields will get a top notch safety.

Hopefully, Lovie can convince Fields that Illinois is the place to be.  I think they are building something special with this program and We Will Win.

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