Four-Star Former Illini 2020 Verbal Commit Flips To Cincinnati

2020 Four-star receiver Jadon Thompson flips from Illinois to Cincinnati just one day before the beginning of the February signing period.

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. -- On the day before the start of the February signing period, Illinois has reportedly lost a four-star verbal pledge to a Group of Five program.

A report from BearcatJournal.com, the 247Sports.com affiliate for Cincinnati athletics, confirms Jadon Thompson has verbally committed to the Bearcats 2020 recruiting class after being a pledge to the Illini group for nearly 10 months.

Thompson confirmed the report Tuesday afternoon via his Instagram page by announcing his commitment flip to Cincinnati.

Thompson, a 6-foot-2 receiver who had 100 receptions for 1,613 yards and 19 touchdowns for Chicago Marist High School as a sophomore and junior before transferring to Naperville Central for his senior year, had scholarship offers from Big Ten Conference programs such as Michigan, Iowa, Michigan State, Minnesota, Purdue, and Indiana before he verbally pledged his services to Illinois.

Thompson took an official visit to Illinois’ campus on Dec. 6 and was anticipated as being part of a 1-2 receiver duo in the Illini’s 2020 class along with St. Louis three-star prospect James Frenchie.

Thompson’s decision to flip from Illinois to Cincinnati drops the Illini’s overall team mark in 247Sports.com’s rankings to No. 90 overall (one spot below Northern Illinois and one spot above Charlotte) and further behind all the other 13 Big Ten programs. 

Thompson’s decision also makes it very likely Illinois will not have an in-state signee in the 2020 recruiting class.