Illinois offensive lineman Leon Hill to transfer to NIU
by Mike Breese on May 10, 2010 10:46 AM CDT
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PrintHuskieWire has the scoop:
Provided everything works out with his paperwork, Illinois offensive lineman Leon Hill intends on transferring to Northern Illinois, Hill said Sunday.
Per his Illinois bio:
High School: A four-star recruit by Rivals.com ... Named IHSA All-State ... Rated a top-40 offensive tackle nationally by Scout.com ... Ranked the No. 15 interior offensive lineman nationally by Tom Lemming ... PrepStar All-Midwest Team ... Listed as the 14th-best offensive guard nationally by Rivals.com ... Didn't allow a sack and averaged five pancake blocks a game as a senior ... A three-year All-Catholic League performer ... Named the No. 9 prospect in the state of Illinois by Rivals.com ... Ranked as the No. 49 prospect in the Midwest by SuperPrep ... Chose Illinois over Arizona, Wisconsin and Michigan State ... High school coach was former Illinos letterwinner Mike Holmes.
HUGE pickup for the Huskies if this ends up going through. Hill redshirted this past season, so after sitting out this upcoming season because of NCAA transfer rules, I believe he will have three years of eligibility left. This instantly upgrades one of the weaker spots on the team and will soften the blow due the fact that four projected starting offensive linemen will graduate after the 2011 season.
As you may know, fans were originally tipped off by a post on facebook about this transfer months ago. Hill was thought to have changed his mind about Illinois until recently.
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Coaching shakeups
New offensive coordinator this year…plus the strong likelihood Zook will get fired after next season, etc
Red and Black Attack - Northern Illinois Pride
by Mike Breese on May 10, 2010 1:41 PM CDT via mobile up reply actions
Probably Not
If he was concerned about the new OC, he’d have left in December when Petrino was hired. Besides, the O-Line coach is the same, so that would have seemingly alleviated any concerns for him.
Apparently
His wife attends NIU. She was also the one that posted that he would be transferring to the Huskies on facebook originally. I think that’s a big reason he transferred. Plus he has a better chance at playing time.
Red and Black Attack - Northern Illinois Pride
by Mike Breese on May 10, 2010 10:03 PM CDT up reply actions
Great pickup, but I too am wondering about why. Hopefully it’s a playing time issue and the guy wants to start. We don’t get many 4 stars.
We've actually never had a 4-star
In the modern era
Red and Black Attack - Northern Illinois Pride
by Mike Breese on May 10, 2010 1:38 PM CDT via mobile up reply actions
Yes, we have had a 5 star recruit.
Senior LongSnapper Nolan Owen out of So Cal was a 5 star Nike recruit in ‘07. He was actually enrolled as a walk on at USC before being snagged by coach Sabok. Check the stats on this kid. He’s had 339 attempts in three years as a starter without a single bad snap. Rumor has it, he played all of last year injured. Evidently it happened in the first game against Wisconsin. Thats why you full ride your LS, just ask the kickers and punters.
Great news
This is huge.. we really needed help on the O Line. Now if Frank the Tank can play in 2011 we could really have something on both sides of the line. Those two going at it in practice would be fun to watch.
"A common mistake made by baseball fans is to call a pitcher unhittable when that pitcher is not Matt Thornton." - Hardball Times
by Grinder in Training on May 10, 2010 1:42 PM CDT reply actions
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