Illini’s Beckman off to good start, but still has work to do

Updated: February 1, 2012 3:08PM

Like a lot of other people, Jason Robertson didn’t know what to expect when Tim Beckman was hired as Illinois’ new football coach in early December.

Beckman did a nice job of pushing Toledo to the top of the Mid-American Conference in his three-year stint there, going 21-16 overall and 14-2 in league play the past two seasons. But the Rockets haven’t been much of a factor in Chicago-area recruiting lately; their roster includes just three local players: offensive linemen Paul Wisniewski (Glenbard North) and A.J. Lindeman (Waubonsie Valley) and defensive tackle Danny Farr (Evanston).

So Beckman had two jump into the recruiting wars on two fronts when he got hired. Besides trying to pick up a few late-deciding players, he had to sell himself to players like Robertson who had committed to the Illini when Ron Zook was in charge.

“He came in at a rough time,” said Robertson, standout wide receiver for Lincoln-Way East.

But Robertson was quickly won over by Beckman. “The first thing I noticed about coach Beckman, he’s definitely a family person,” Robertson said. “He seems like he’s got a whole bunch of assistant coaches that relate to him as family.”

After meeting and getting to know Beckman and his staff, Robertson decided not to reopen his recruiting. “I feel a lot more confident (now),” he said. “I didn’t think they’d bring in anybody as quick as they did.”

It’s to Beckman’s credit that he was able to hold onto Illinois’ marquee local recruits, including Robertson, Bolingbrook offensive lineman Rob Bain and Mount Carmel defensive lineman Vontrell Williams. He also added Lincoln-Way West defensive back BJ Bello, who recently switched from Western Michigan to the Illini.

It also bodes well for the future that Beckman has been able to tap into Ohio’s rich vein of football talent, landing late commitments from teammates V’Angelo Bentley (a defensive back) and Justin Hardee (recruited as an athlete) of Glenville High in Cleveland, along with linebacker Mike Svetina of Brunswick St. Ignatius and athlete LaKeith Walls of Cleveland Rhodes.

But Beckman still has some work to do. The lllini have no four- or five-star recruits and their highest-rated player nationally is Joseph Spencer of Mason (Ohio), ranked 24th among offensive guards by Rivals.com.

The lack of big-timers is why Illinois is ranked at or near the bottom of the Big Ten recruiting lists by most analysts. To some degree, that was inevitable. “Zook was a real good recruiter,” CBS Sports analyst Tom Lemming said. “However, everything was hanging over his head.”

“They didn’t have a ton of momentum with this class,” said Rivals Midwest analyst Josh Helmholdt.

But, like Robertson, both Lemming and Helmholdt see better times ahead for Beckman and the Illini.

“Hiring Luke Butkus (as an assistant) was a big catch,” Lemming said. “He has a big name and he has Chicago ties.”

“What’s always impressed me,” Helmholdt said, “his coaching staff (at Toledo) had a way of picking out real diamonds in the rough.”

One such player could be Devin Church, a 5-foot-8, 175-pound running back out of perennial Michigan prep power Brother Rice. Previously committed to Northern Illinois, Church could be a sleeper for the lllini, Helmholdt believes.

But while getting players from prep football hotbeds like Ohio and Michigan is never a bad thing, Beckman and the Illini can’t prosper if they don’t keep Illinois’ best players at home. “Obviously you have to recruit Chicago if you’re going to be successful in Champaign,” Helmholdt said.

At least one future Illini doesn’t think that will be a problem for Beckman.

“He stressed that a lot,” Robertson said. “He made it real clear about how serious he is about keeping Illinois recruits in Illinois.”

That might be the best news of all for Illini fans on signing day – especially if Beckman can deliver on that promise.

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