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Feb. 6, 2008

11:51 a.m. - Well it is about time for me to close out the blog for today. Lunch has arrived, thanks to BW3's. Thanks to BW3 for making a special trip over the stadium to bring us a great spread of wings, fries, catfish, mozzarella sticks and our one vegetable, celery. Thanks also to everyone for reading and being a part of the 2008 signing day. There is still quite a bit going on today, so stay tuned and until next year ... GO ILLINI!

11:15 a.m. - Here are some photos from signing day thus far. Keep checking it as more will be added throughout the day. Signing Day Photo Gallery

10:56 a.m. - It is officially snowing very hard here. Thank goodness I don't have to leave the building today. The players have off from workouts today, but there are still a lot of guys up here in the football offices.

10:49 a.m. - Can't believe it only 10:49. It seems so much later. But anyway, our videos are starting soon with a video interview with Reggie Mitchell. Also we have uploaded some other videos that you can view, including a "trailer" of sorts for the Rose Bowl DVD. It is pretty cool. Gives me the chills.

10:37 a.m. - Well obviously we are in a holding pattern until a little later in the day. I think everyone knows what I am referring to. So I will try my best to keep you entertained until then. I see that I am making some of you bored by my comments. But this is a tough job!!! Cut me some slack!

10:35 a.m. - Trent Chesnut, our equipment manager, just came up to inform us that he got his first letter of intent from a future student manager from Lincoln-Way. But in all seriousness, those guys do a lot of work, put in a lot of time and there are opportunities for students who are interested in staying involved in football.

10:32 a.m. - Congratulations to the Illinois staff for the signing of 100 percent of committed players.

10:26 a.m. - As of this minute, Corey Liuget is an Illini. I know everyone has been hearing this from other places, but the letter just came across the fax machine.

10:09 a.m. - Well just to paint a picture of the atmosphere here. It is a combination of relaxed and stressed. Most of the coaches have gone back to their offices and started back on work. Recruiting, the never ending job, has already begun for this next class. Some offers are already out and there is a lot of film in each of the coaches' offices being watched. With the whole staff in town this week, there have been some group film-watching sessions.

9:58 a.m. - Tune into the Locksley chat.

9:48 a.m. - Just another stadium update. Things are moving pretty good on the construction of the new weight room. It will be completed by the end of the summer and ready for use for the team, including all these new recruits, this fall. Pretty soon, Illinois will have some of the best facilities in the country. The I FUND is offering opportunities for naming rights to these areas. Some of the facilities over at football already have been named, like the training room and players' lounge. So if any of you would be interested in being a part of something like this call Howard at 217-333-6277.

9:42 a.m. - Some more interesting information about this class. We have two players, Supo Sanni and Ugo Uzodinma, whose families are from Nigeria and Whitney Mercilus' family is from Haiti. It is so much fun on these recruiting visits to meet people from all over the world and learn about their cultures. I actually am going to Africa myself next Thursday to the country of Ghana. I am slightly fascinated by the continent. But these will be great stories to hear about in the next four-five years.

9:37 a.m. - Ugo Uzodinma has just sent his information in.

9:34 a.m. - Just got a great photo, that we will put up in a gallery later today, of Disch, Mallory and Mitchell all sitting in our receptionist area. You can tell who the stressed out coaches are (Disch, Mitchell), while Mallory relaxingly reads a newspaper.

9:30 a.m. - Howard Milton from the I FUND office just came over to congratulate the coaches. I don't know if this is known yet, but Howard will be taking the new position of running the suites and club areas in the new press box. I personally think this is a great job for him. If anyone has met Howard he is one of the most positive, friendly people you could meet. Well, like I said earlier we still have some seats for sale in the outdoor club, I think about 200 out of the 1200 up there. The indoor club is sold out and there are a few suites left. I can say right now that the new stadium is going to be gorgeous. If you are in town and can drive by, do so because it is changing every day.

9:17 a.m. - Jack Ramsey is in.

9:12 a.m. - Well while we have some down time, I took a look at the board and came up with this great note. First of all, Coach Wolford is extremely happy with this year's crop of offensive linemen that will be coming in (and are already in with Graham Pocic). Our average height among those five is 6-5 1/2 and the average weight is 290. Not bad for 18 year olds.

9:09 a.m. - I promise you I have announced all the letters that are in. There may be some individual press conferences going on right now, but until we have the letter in our hands, I can't say anything.

9:01 a.m. - Please welcome the latest addtion to the Illini family ... Donsay Hardeman.

8:56 a.m. - Jason Ford just sent his letter in.

8:49 a.m. - Russell Ellington's has arrived.

8:41 a.m. - I have to apologize to Supo Sanni, but his stuff is in. It came during that mad influx earlier in the hour and I missed his name getting moved above the fold. Thanks to assistant recruiting coordinator Casey Ludwig for finding that mistake. So welcome Supo to the Illini family!

8:35 a.m. - Eric Wolford has just announced that he is done for the day. All Ohio commits have completed their letters.

8:31 a.m. - Adrian Melendez has just stacked up all my trash from this morning next to me. So far I have consumed a egg and cheese biscuit (had to remove the bacon b/c of Ash Wednesday) and the aforementioned pastry. Excuse me for a minute while a get another water (Bobbi Duval and I have given up soft drinks for lent).

8:25 a.m. - Just got another letter in from the Sunshine State, A.J. Jenkins has just arrived.

8:19 a.m. - I just went out on the terrace at the football office, which is the first time in awhile I have been out there. It is amazing how much has been done out there. The brickwork is nearly completed on the outdoor club area. It gives the renovation so much character. Just an announcement, there are some seats still available in the outdoor club. If you are interested in looking into that option, you can call the I FUND office at 217-333-6595.

8:17 a.m. - I read on Scout that you guys would like me to write as often as possible even if there is no new news. I will report that I did just eat a pastry.

8:05 a.m. - While Coach Zook was on the cell phone with WSOY-Radio he was pacing near the fax machine when we got Corey Lewis' letter. I am pretty sure he made the announcement on the radio. So officially WSOY scooped me.

8:00 a.m. - For all those fans in Decatur, Coach Zook will be on WSOY-Radio in about two minutes on live with Ken Smithmeir.

7:54 a.m. - Most people are aware of the eight guys already on campus, but for those who don't, we do have seven early enrollee freshmen and a transfer student. Those players are: Jeff Allen, Reggie Ellis, Mikel LeShoure, Whitney Mercilus, Graham Pocic, Fred Sykes, Ashante Williams and transfer Jarred Fayson. This is a wierd day for them because they don't actually have to sign letters of intent. Their enrollment in school serves as that paperwork.

7:51 a.m. - This afternoon we will have a live radio show following the Zook press conference. Fans can call in and ask questions for Zook, recruiting coordinator Reggie Mitchell, Graham Pocic, Mikel LeShoure and Reggie Ellis. The call in numbers are 800-223-9397 and in the state of Illinois 217-356-9397.

7:48 a.m. - This just in ... London Davis is next signee. We are rocking and rolling. The way our recruiting board works is we have a line that divides signees from commitments and just looking at it, we have 21 above the line.

7:41 a.m. - Cordale Scott welcome to the Orange and Blue. The one thing I can say about this class. I will never claim to be an evaluator of talent, but these guys are really great kids. People who meet them will fall in love with how personable they are ... polite. They all call me ma'am or Miss Cassie.

7:38 a.m. - Things are rolling now. Glenn Foster officially becomes an Illini.

7:34 a.m. - First of the Florida boys is Patrick Nixon. Signed and delivered.

7:31 a.m. - Well we are getting another rush of faxes. Right after Staples, we received Nate Palmer's and Hubie Graham's.

7:29 a.m. - Justin Staples is the sixth player to get his letter of intent into the office.

7:05 a.m. - I just took a picture of Coach Zook sitting down talking on the phone. That was a rare occurence. Not the phone part, but the sitting. He has been on his feet for the last hour. Wish I could put a pedometer on him and track his steps today. I bet he walks five miles, just wearing out the floor in the football office.

7:00 a.m. - It is now officially time that Central time zone players can begin signing their letters.

6:55 a.m. - Kurt Beathard gives a sigh of relief. Jacob Charest's letter just came over the fax. He is the fifth to sign today.

6:49 a.m. - We have a full day of events. Locksley chats at 10 a.m., followed by live video interviews with Reggie Mitchell and Tom Sims. We thought it would be a cool idea to write about stories from the road this year. Coaches spend nearly two months on the road and have some great anecdotes about home and school visits. Anyway, that will be at Noon, followed by a video interview with co-defensive coordinators Curt Mallory and Dan Disch. The two of them did a great job sharing duties this year and because of that they will continue the same way next season as well. Our final chat of the day will be Arrelious Benn, who last year at this time was just getting used to college life. And finally, Zook's press conference will be live at 3:30 p.m. CT. Also look for videos and bios on all today's signees.

6:29 a.m. - Eight minutes seem like long time in college football signing day time. We weren't expected to have a ton of letters in in the first hour, but when you see four that quickly, you hope that maybe this will be an early day. If you are up this early go ahead and submit some questions to the online chat with Mike Locksley which is scheduled for 10 a.m.

6:21 a.m. - Fourth letter has just arrived from the DC/Maryland area. Evan Frierson's letter is on the fax machine.

6:18 a.m. - Every coach arrived this morning around 5:45 a.m. Associate recruiting coordinator Bobbi Duval brought us all breakfast from Panera, so the staff is grabbing a bite to eat, which hastens the pacing the usually happens this early in the morning. Yesterday and last night, assistant coaches talked to their recruits about what approximate time they would be sending over their letters. So they have a basic idea. So far everyone who has faxed over their information has been ahead of schedule.

6:12 a.m. - The fax machine is on fire. We got the first fax at 6:05 from Tyler Sands. He called the office approximately one minute later and spoke with Coach Zook. The ringing continued with Tavon Wilson, followed by Ryan Sedladek. Coach Pry is starting to feel a little bit of relief, but he still has more to go.

6:02 a.m. - Welcome everyone to the third annual signing day blog. We are set up and ready to go. Just a refresher course in the rules of signing for the student-athletes. They can sign at 7 a.m. local time, so we will start seeing letters from the Eastern time zone this hour.