Illinois nabs commitment from 3-star Georgia QB Cordel Littlejohn
When three-star quarterback Cordel Littlejohn moved from North Carolina to Georgia following his junior season, he did so with the intention of achieving his goal of playing major college football. And now just one game into his senior year at Roswell, Ga. High School he’s taken a major step toward that goal.
“I’m officially committed to Illinois,” Littlejohn told Rivals.com Thursday night. “They have a really good school and offer me what I’m looking for academically and they’re in the Big 10 so it’s a really big opportunity for me and my career.”
Illinois was the first major program to offer Littlejohn and he said that long term relationship paid major dividends when it came time to make a decision.
“They were the first to give me a chance and the first to officially give me a chance with an offer and I just thought why not,” Littlejohn said. “This is a good school and I don’t want to miss on my opportunity to play for them and a great coach like Lovie Smith.”
Smith’s resume, including his long sting in the NFL, is something that weighed heavily into Littlejohn’s decision.
“He’s a great coach and the fact that he’s done it on the highest level meant a lot to me,” Littlejohn said. “It gives me a lot of confidence that he knows what he’s doing and he knows how to turn the program around. He had a good first year and you can see he’s going somewhere with it and I think it’s going to keep getting better with the talent we’re bringing in.”
In terms of his fit in the Illinois offense, the Illini coaches have told Littlejohn that he has the skillset they are looking for and after doing some homework of his own he thinks that they’re right.
“They told me I’m exactly what they’re looking for and they want a guy that can throw but that move around a little, too,” Littlejohn said. “I’ve been looking at their games from last year and I think I fit really well. The fact that they go under center at times and have some pro-style aspects can help prepare me for the NFL, too, and that’s my ultimate goal.”
Littlejohn’s commitment to Illinois comes as a bit of a surprise, especially considering he’s yet to visit campus. But he said that will be rectified soon and didn’t really give him pause when it came time to decide.
“At first I was nervous but I talked to my parents and we all know this is the best opportunity for me,” Littlejohn said. “I didn’t want to miss out on a blessing. Now is the time.”
Littlejohn is commitment No. 14 for the Illini in the Class of 2018 and the second quarterback to join the class, joining three-star Coran Taylor. He becomes the first player from the state of Georgia to commit but joins six commitments from Florida in the Illinois class.