2020 Illini Signee: DE/DT Tre’Von Riggins

Just days after becoming the Illini's final verbal pledge of the 2020 early signing period, Tre'Von Riggins signed his National Letter-of-Intent.

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. -- If you want to talk about positional versatility, Tre’Von Riggins might be the poster child for that skill in Illinois’ 2020 recruiting class.

Riggins, who was primarily recruited by defensive line coach Austin Clark and safeties coach Keynodo Hudson (both are Tampa, Fla., natives), is rated by 247Sports.com as the 70th-best defensive tackle in the 2020 class. It is likely the Illinois coaching staff sees Riggins, listed at 6-foot-2 and 265 pounds, being able to possibly contribute early in his career as a big defensive end who could help set the edge against the run. However, it isn’t illogical to see Riggins’ future at the athletic defensive tackle position after a season or two in Lovie Smith’s defensive scheme.

Riggins, a consensus three-star defensive lineman by 247.com, ESPN.com, and Rivals.com, spent his final season of high school football playing with Illinois signee quarterback Gregory ‘Deuce’ Spann after transferring from IMG Academy.

Riggins made a campus visit to Illinois on Oct. 18 to watch the Illini knock off then-No. 6 Wisconsin 24-23 in a dramatic come-from-behind upset. Riggins verbally committed to Miami (Fla.) in Jan. 2018 but seemingly kept his recruitment open after that pledge. The defensive tackle prospect chose Illinois over scholarship offers from Miami (Fla.), Florida, Tennessee, Florida State and Arizona State.

Riggins had 74 tackles, five sacks, 20.0 tackles for loss, 11 quarterback hurries, and three forced fumbles during his high school career. Riggins was part of a massive rebuild of the Illini defensive line in this 2020 class. Of the 12 commitments of the Illini’s 2020 class, four are defensive linemen and Illinois is attached to the recruiting efforts of three-star prospect/former Georgia Tech commit JaQuari Wiggles.

Riggins was the fifth verbal pledge from the state of Florida and the defensive lineman signed his National Letter-of-Intent late Wednesday morning (the first day he was allowed to do so) at Lakewood High School.