2021 3-Star OG Zachary Barlev Flips From Bowling Green To Illinois In One Day

Illinois gets its second in-state prospect in the form of a flip as 2021 three-star OG Zachary Barlev decommits from Bowling Green in order to make a pledge to the Illini.

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. -- When he woke up Friday morning, Zachary Barlev was a prospect committed to a Football Bowl Subdivision prospect. When he does the same the following morning, nothing about his recruitment will have changed except the location.

Barlev, a three-star offensive guard prospect from Plainfield (Ill.) East High School, flipped his college decision from Bowling Green to Illinois Friday within less than 12 hours on July 24 becoming the Illini’s 15th verbal pledge of the 2021 class. Barlev, who originally committed to Bowling Green on the July 4th holiday after the Eagles program officially sent him a scholarship offer, decided to accept the Illinois offer presented to him back in Feb. 2.

Respect my decision @CoachKunz59 @BengalFB @EDGYTIM @DeepDishFB @AllenTrieu pic.twitter.com/ZvBn9qUvbq

— Zachary Barlev (@Barlev23) July 24, 2020

Barlev, a 290-pound offensive lineman and an all-state wrestler at the heavyweight spot, sent out a tweet in the early afternoon Friday saying “sadly, I have decided to decommit from Bowling Green State University due to some personal reasons” and around 6 p.m. that evening announced he was headed to Illinois next season.

Barlev is the second in-state recruit and completes a potential interior lineman guard to guard trio of Barlev, Sports Ilustrated All-American candidate center Josh Kruetz and Sports Ilustrated All-American candidate guard Brody Wisecarver from the St. Louis area. Barlev joins Kreutz, who is the son of former Chicago Bears Pro Bowl center Olin Kreutz, as the second in-state prospect in the Illini’s 2021 recruiting class.

Barlev has been on the radar of Illini offensive line coach Bob McClain long before he received his scholarship offer from Illinois in February, which was his first and still only Football Bowl Subdivision offer, and McClain’s long-standing interest should tell folks that he sees the potential in the in-state product. His overall intelligence is off the chart, which should make the Ivy League offers no surprise to anybody, but Barlev’s main attribute is his ability to physically dominate defenders when he’s able to get his hands locked in and his nastiness at the point of contact.

Illinois has added 14 commitments to their 2021 recruiting class since May but this commitment of Barlev isn’t necessarily the completely virtual recruitment that the Illinois coaching staff have become known for in the last three months. Barlev’s offer from Illinois came just a day after a visit to the university campus.