Lyke adds Illinois offer on visit

Palatine (Ill.) Fremd safety Kenney Lyke picked up offer No. 11 this past weekend during an unofficial visit to Illinois.

"I got down there on Friday and Coach (Alex) Golesh came up to me and said, 'You know you have an offer,'" Lyke said. "Coach (Tim) Beckman just likes guys to get down here before he throws out an offer."

"Coach Beckman was around all weekend talking to us. He spoke with me and all the in-state guys about this being the home state school and it would be good for us to go there and try to start a dynasty."

Lyke saw the Illini pick up commitments from four-star running back Kentrail Moran and three-star quarterback Eli Peters this past weekend and the opportunity to play for a home state program does resonate with the Chicagoland safety.

"It has impact and we were talking about it before-hand," Lyke said. "Kentrail started it, and I definitely have an eye on it."

Illinois hosted a sizable group of their top targets for the two-day unofficial visit, and Lyke recapped the basics of the experience.

"We stayed overnight on Friday with some of the older guys," Lyke said. "I thought it was pretty nice how they had everything set up. We got to spend some time with the coaches and players and they had a good practice on Saturday morning as well. They have a lot of hype - they get pretty rowdy down there. They have the music going and everything."

The trip to Illinois kicks off a strong of visits Lyke plans to college programs this spring.

"I have Notre Dame next weekend," Lyke said. "I was talking to Coach (Mike) Denbrock and he was telling me they were pretty low on their safety numbers and it would be a big need for me to come there."

Lyke also is planning a visit to Ohio State on April 4. He has been in contact with the Buckeye's defensive coordinator recently.

"Coach (Chris) Ash, I was talking to him (Sunday)," Lyke said. "He was talking about how many DBs they've got. Most of their DBs are going to be juniors, so if I get down there I would probably be a big consideration."

The 6-foot-2, 185-pound Lyke now holds five offers from Power Five schools. The others are from Iowa, Iowa State, Michigan State and Pittsburgh.