Illinois junior WR draws first offer

The Decatur (Ill.) area is always a great place to search for athletes as well as football prospects. MacArthur High School in particular has had it share of high level football prospects over the last several seasons, and yet another Decatur MacArthur kid looks to be on his way to becoming the next major prospect from the Decatur area for the state of Illinois recruiting Class of 2006.

Decatur (Ill.) MacArthur junior wide receiver prospect Marques Wilkins (6-foot-2, 190 pounds) has landed his first scholarship offer from the University of Illinois late last week according to Decatur MacArthur assistant coach Derek Spates.

"Marques received his first scholarship offer from the University of Illinois late last week," Spates said. "The new staff at Illinois, and assistant coach Reggie Mitchell in particular requested some tape on Marques. The Illinois coaches evaluated his junior tape and offered Marques about three hours after seeing his tape."

Wilkins, who added nearly 1,200 total yards of offense and 17 touchdowns in just 5 games in 2004, made the most of his injury plagued junior year.

"You saw Marques in person around this time last year, and he's really a different looking kid and a much different looking player now. Marques has really embraced the weight room, and he's added some good strength and size. He still has some work ahead of him, but Marques is definitely a player with a lot of upside and the Illinois coaches also seemed to agree."

Wilkins, who carries an impressive 3.7 GPA on a 4.0 scale in the class room, is also drawing recruiting interest from several Big Ten Conference schools this winter.

"Marques has been getting mail and tape requests from Iowa, Purdue, Michigan and Northwestern. I know that he's planning to attend a few junior day events this winter, but I'm just not sure which one's just yet."