By the time Rivals.com released its top 250 players with the Class of 2013, Bolingbrook quarterback Aaron Bailey and Darby (Ohio) wide receiver/defensive back Caleb Day represented Illinois on that list.

Both weren't high on the list — Bailey checked in at No. 159 and Day was slotted in at No. 218 — but were still included in the field of elite players.

Wes Lunt is transferring from Oklahoma State. This much we know.

And it appears the Rochester product will choose between Illinois and Louisville after Cowboys coach Mike Gundy put severe restrictions on where the quarterback can play his final three seasons of college football.

Lunt isn't eligible to play until the 2014 season.

Marcus Berry is adamant about getting the chance to leave campus for football recruiting purposes.

Tim Beckman backs up the stance from his director of player personnel.

Current NCAA rules prohibit Berry from leaving campus to help with recruiting.

Most of the Illinois quarterback talk on Thursday revolved around Wes Lunt.

The former Oklahoma State quarterback and Rochester product was reportedly on campus for a visit.

If Lunt does decide to pick his home-state school, he'll have three years of eligibility left. We'll have to wait and see if that happens.

Building relationships.

It's a theme Illinois football's director of player personnel Marcus Berry harps on when it comes to recruiting, his main responsibility in his new position with the Illini.

Relationships is what got Berry, a former coach at Friendly (Md.) High School, into the college ranks.

Marcus Berry won’t coach on the sidelines during the fall for the Illinois football team.

He won’t hit the road, either, visiting high schools in an effort to land a recruit for the Illini.

Yet the Cleveland native is vital to Tim Beckman’s recruiting efforts.

Berry has had the job of director of player personnel at Illinois for nearly three months.

Plainfield East is a relatively new school.

The suburban Chicago high school of 1,860 students opened in 2009.

Walking the hallways now is easily the most highly-regarded Division I basketball prospect in the school’s brief history.


Any basketball fan staying up late the last two weeks to watch the NBA playoffs has seen the exploits of Stephen Curry.

The shooting.

The deft ball-handling.

The running floaters.

The passing.

The free throw shooting.

The play-making ability.

May won't consist of much basketball for Michael Finke.

But the Centennial forward and Class of 2014 Illinois commit will get back on the court before the summer ends.

Just not for a few weeks after Finke had his appendix removed Wednesday night.

Jimmy Fitzgerald had a visit planned to the Illinois football offices for Wednesday afternoon.

It was there, tucked within the northeast corner of Memorial Stadium, that Fitzgerald was optimistic a scholarship offer would come his way.

But the Champaign Centennial (Ill.) High School quarterback didn’t have to wait until a visit to the second-floor coaches’ offices.