Bret Bielema Expects Upset Win Over Kansas To Provide Recruiting Boost

Zachary Draves | Sep 8, 2024

Aug 29, 2024; Champaign, Illinois, USA; Illinois Fighting Illini head coach Bret Bielema on the sidelines during the first half at Memorial Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Ron Johnson-Imagn Images / Ron Johnson-Imagn Images

Illinois Fighting Illini coach Bret Bielema is looking to capitalize off the 23-17 upset win over Kansas in the area of recruiting.

One of the biggest wins in school history is expected to help land more top recruits.

"We have more recruits here, committed players, guys that we've offered than any other time since we've been here," Bielema said. "To go out there and play the way we did, to make it a four-quarter game and at the end of the game to have that celebration was a memorable thing."

A number of potential recruits were in attendance during one of their biggest recruiting periods. Among the attendees was 2025 quarterback commit Carson Boyd from Cardinal Ritter High School in St. Louis and and four-star defensive back Nasir Rankin of Chicago of the class of 2026.

Historically speaking, this is arguably the biggest win for the Fighting Illini under Bielema's tenure since defeating then No. 7 Penn State 20-18 on the road in 2021. Bielema says to pull off a big win at home was something he dreamed of and wants it to be a boost going forward.

"I've been kind of waiting for this moment" Bielema said. "Our biggest win was beating Penn State on the road, a ranked team. This is the biggest home win since 1995. We've got to build on this now."

Zachary Draves is a contributor to Illinois Fighting Illini On SI. He can be reached at zdraves1013@gmail.com and on Instagram @zdraves0633.

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