Signing Day Central | Signee Highlights

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. - University of Illinois head football coach Tim Beckman announced Wednesday the signing of 16 student-athletes to National Letters of Intent to play football for the Fighting Illini in 2015. The 16 newest Illini join nine other newcomers who are already on campus taking classes - two early enrollees, one grayshirt and six junior college transfers - in the 25-man 2015 recruiting class.

"We are extremely excited about this class," Beckman said. "It's the best class we have signed here because of its depth and how it meets the needs of our team. Offensive line and running back were our two biggest needs, and we brought in nine high-quality young men at those positions.

"Our staff did an outstanding job of identifying talented student-athletes who fit our program and will help us continue to compete for championships. Reaching a bowl game was huge for us with this class, and our players make a big impact in the recruiting process, too. We have had two Freshman All-Americans in our last three classes and I feel like a number of these young men have the potential to achieve that. Over half our class is from what we call Illini Nation, which is a huge emphasis for us, and they have a combined GPA over 3.0."

The class is ranked as high as No. 35 in the nation by Scout and is sixth in the Big Ten by 247sports, Rivals and Scout.

2015 Illinois Signing Class Facts

» 25 student-athletes (16 new signees and 9 early enrollees who were announced in December)
     18 out of high school and 7 from junior colleges
     16 skill position players and 9 linemen
     17 offense and 8 defense

» State Breakdown
     Illinois - 6 (4 from Chicagoland: Brown, Milan, Nelson, Reams; 2 from downstate: Fitzgerald, Megginson)
     California - 4
     Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Ohio, Tennessee and Texas - 2 each
     Iowa, Maryland and New Jersey - 1 each

» 13 of the 25 signees are from "Illini Nation" - within a six-hour radius of Champaign-Urbana

» 1 Gatorade State Player of the Year (Vaughn - Tennessee), first to sign at Illinois since Reilly O'Toole in 2011

» 3 national top-300 players (Brown, Megginson, Vaughn)

» 5 played in All-America All-Star games
     Offense-Defense All-American Bowl (Brown, Milan, Reams, Vaughn)
     Semper Fidelis All-American Bowl (Megginson, Team Captain)

» 7 state champions (in 9 title game appearances)

» 159 total state playoff game appearances

» 1 junior college national championship game (Andrew Davis)

» Combined grade-point average of the class is 3.14

» 15 signees have over a 3.0 GPA, including one perfect 4.0 (Fitzgerald)

February Signees

Early Enrollees