Bob Asmussen answered questions all day Wednesday. Read the recap here.

CHAMPAIGN – There have been easier classes to put together for Ron Zook. Like all of them.

On his way to signing 20 prospects Wednesday, the Illinois coach had to hire five coaches, gained and lost a handful of players, and had to deal with negative recruiting coming off a 3-9 season.

"You're defending your manhood, you're defending everything about you, every time you go out there," Zook said.

"My longevity, my career, all those things were addressed, and I addressed them up front with people."

The 2010 class is rated No. 60 by Scout.com and No. 69 by Rivals.com. Zook said he doesn't look at the rankings.

"If they were held accountable, in two or three years down the road, it might be a little bit different," Zook said. "To be honest with you, I don't put a lot of stock in them. There's an awful lot of things that go into the evaluation of a player. What somebody ought to do is grade them and how they grade classes."

New defensive coordinator Vic Koenning came up with a way to describe the importance of the latest class.

"He was talking this morning and he said, 'It's kind of like the mortar,' " Zook said. "We've got a lot of good mortar that's really going to help this football team."

Illinois didn't land every recruit it expected Wednesday. Proviso East defensive back Corey Cooper, who long ago made a commitment to the Illini but took other visits, signed with Nebraska.

Cooper's decision wasn't much of a surprise to the Illinois coaches, who feared in recent days they would lose him.

But Paramus (N.J.) Catholic offensive lineman Dan Foose surprised the Illini staff, defecting late Tuesday to Florida State.

"We lost a couple here at the end," Zook said. "That's something that hasn't happened. It happens around the country all the time. It didn't go exactly as planned. But I'm excited about where we are and what we've got."

The Illini held onto Jay Prosch, a fullback from Mobile, Ala., who was pursued late into the night by another school.

Tallahassee (Fla.) Rickards defensive end Brandon Denmark and Delray Beach (Fla.) American Heritage School receiver Darius Millines were the latest to commit to Zook's class. Millines previously had picked West Virginia but changed his mind when Mountaineers assistant Doc Holliday became head coach at Marshall.

"He's got a chance to be a special guy," Zook said.

The 20 players come from 10 states, including Alabama, Arkansas and Louisiana. Those states have rarely been recruited by the Illinois football program.

"We covered a lot of ground," Zook said. "This class is going to surprise a lot of people down the road."

New defensive coordinator Koenning, offensive coordinator Paul Petrino, quarterbacks coach Jeff Brohm, tight ends coach Greg Nord and running backs coach DeAndre Smith had to cram a lot of recruiting into a short time.

"I think, overall, it helped us positively," Zook said of the coaching changes. "It gave us a whole new list of names.

"I was very, very impressed how the new guys picked up and acted like they'd been here the whole year. They jumped right in there. We did some things in our recruiting weekends that they suggested that made it even better."

Zook and the staff haven't mapped out where the coaches will recruit in the future. After the assistants take a few days off, the staff will reconvene next week and start planning.

"There's no question this is as good a recruiting staff as I've been around," Zook said.

Class of 2010

Here are the players who have signed with Illinois:

PLAYER POS. SCHOOL

Shawn Afryl OL Niles West

Jonathan Brown LB Memphis (Tenn.) Christian Brothers

Simon Cvijanovic OL Cleveland Benedictine

Ean Days RB Camden County (Ga.)

Brandon Denmark DE Tallahassee (Fla.) Rickards

Spencer Harris WR Greenwood (Ark.)

Michael Heitz OL South Fulton

Trulon Henry DB College of DuPage

Alex Hill OL Slidell (La.)

Jake Howe FB/TE McHenry

Ryan Lankford WR Jacksonville (Fla.) Paxon School

Darius Millines WR Delray Beach (Fla.) American Heritage

Miles Osei QB Prospect

Jay Prosch FB Mobile (Ala.) UMS Wright

Austin Teitsma DE Glenbard South

Earnest Thomas DB Orchard Lake (Mich.) St. Mary's

Chandler Whitmer QB Downers Grove South

Anthony Williams TE Virginia Beach (Va.) Atlantic Shores

Evan Wilson TE Woodstock (Ga.)

Mark Wilson LB Tallahassee (Fla.) Lincoln