CHAMPAIGN — Illinois has 30 freshmen on its roster this season. With the Big Ten announcing last week that travel rosters will expand from 74 to 80 this season, which further solidifies that several freshmen will make trips to road games.
Yet, that was likely to be the case anyway because Bret Bielema and his staff just welcomed the program’s highest-ranked recruiting class nationally (No. 24) since 2009.
The Illini welcomed five Composite four-star prospects in the class, including OL Champ Smith and DB Nick Hankins Jr., who are in the running for spots on the two-deep.
While local reporters have had limited practice viewing — mostly stretching, special teams and positional drills — some freshmen have earned some first-week buzz during training camp.
Here are five freshmen earning some early training camp praise.
