Vast potential of '07 class yet to be met

For a closer look at the 2007 class, click here.

CHAMPAIGN – The five-star receiver has one catch in two games. The five-star linebacker is out for the year with a neck injury. One four-star defensive lineman has five tackles in two games. The other four-star tackle left the program after a year for Eastern Illinois and is now at a junior college.

The much-hyped 2007 Illinois recruiting class, the highest ranked of Ron Zook's tenure, hasn't played to its potential. So far.

Of the 21 players who signed with Illinois that year, three never made it to campus and six others have come and gone. That makes it a retention rate of 57 percent.

Of the 12 who are still with the team, four likely will start Saturday's game against Ohio State (receiver Arrelious Benn, defensive tackle Josh Brent, tailback Daniel Dufrene and linebacker Ian Thomas). Two other potential starters (linebacker Martez Wilson and cornerback Miami Thomas) are out for the season with neck and knee injuries, respectively.

Two of the remaining 12 are prominent reserves (linebacker Nate Bussey and tailback Troy Pollard). The losses from his class are more personal to Pollard. One of the nine who departed, defensive tackle D'Angelo McCray, was Pollard's high school teammate at Jacksonville (Fla.) Andrew Jackson.

The close friends planned to play four years at Illinois and help the team to a bunch of wins. It didn't work out for McCray. And Pollard's career has been hampered by a knee injury that ended his rookie season.

"I think about them all of the time, like 'What could we have been?' " Pollard said. "But that goes out of my head. I just focus on my teammates now."

The players were excited about the group at the time of the signing, Pollard said.

"It was very nice," Pollard said. "All of us were close. To see those guys go like that, it hurts."

Pollard stays in contact with McCray, who is attending Coffeyville (Kan.) Community College but not playing football.

"We talk all the time," Pollard said. "He still roots for Illinois. He'll call me and say, 'How are we doing today? How's the team looking?' He's still a big fan."

Another missing player, receiver/safety Brian Gamble, had non-football-related issues that included an off-the-field altercation. The school suspended Gamble for a semester, which knocked him out of his sophomore season.

He didn't want to leave.

"It never occurred to me that I wouldn't be there for the next four years of my life," said Gamble, now a starting safety at Division II Ashland. "That one situation that happened really threw everything off track. It was unfortunate, but it happened. You live and you learn."

Illinois isn't the only school that has suffered losses from its 2007 class. In the Big Ten, every team except Northwestern has taken a hit, some bigger than others.

Minnesota has lost seven of 22. That was the first recruiting class for coach Tim Brewster and included since-departed Clint Brewster.

Michigan has lost eight of 20 from 2007. That was the last recruiting class for Lloyd Carr, who was replaced before the 2008 season by Rich Rodriguez. The highest-profile departure was quarterback Ryan Mallett, who didn't fit Rodriguez's offense and is now a star at Arkansas.

Iowa and Wisconsin each lost six players from 2007. Indiana, Michigan State and Purdue are missing four. Penn State has lost three, and two are no longer with Ohio State.

Coaches expect some players to leave, Scout.com recruiting analyst Allen Trieu said.

"I was talking to a college coach this summer and he was saying, 'I really like our freshman class this year. I think about 75 percent of them will stick,' " Trieu said. "It was surprising to me. But you look back and see guys transfer, have trouble with academics. Different things take a toll on a class. Fifty-seven percent isn't a great number, but it's not uncommonly low."

Had the folks at Rivals.com and Scout.com known what was going to happen, the ratings for the classes might have been changed.

Trieu said Scout.com takes academic ability into account when it rates recruiting classes. It's fine to land a bunch of blue-chippers, but if they won't make the grade in the classroom, it doesn't do the school any good.

On Signing Day in 2007, tailback Deries Hodge was considered an important get for Illinois. As talented as most four- and five-star recruits, Hodge received two stars because of a checkered prep career that included a year at court-referred school in Pennsylvania.

"We do our best to try to find out those kind of things," Trieu said. "And we move kids up or down based on whether or not they'll qualify. We can't always know everything."

Erique Robertson, a linebacker from Maple Heights, Ohio, was kicked off the team after his arrest for illegal discharge of a firearm. There have been legal issues for other members of the 2007 class.

"We do talk to the kids a certain amount, and you can get a feel for what kind of person the kid is," Trieu said. "That's something coaches are going to have to take into account."

Of the 21 signees in 2007, 13 were from outside Illinois. Five were from Ohio, and three each were from the Washington, D.C., area and Florida.

"Around the country, a lot of the kids who end up transferring transfer back closer to home," Trieu said. "It's better when you have a support system around you."

Playing time is often an issue for players who leave a program. Even if they can't get on the field immediately, they want to know that they eventually will have a chance to contribute.

"Is there light at the end of the tunnel?" Trieu said.

Zook has developed a reputation as a top recruiting coach. What's happened to the 2007 class hasn't changed that perception, Trieu said. Just two from the 28-player 2008 class have left the program (defensive linemen Reggie Ellis and Ugo Uzodinma).

Illinois has nine commitments for the 2010 class, including four-star players Corey Cooper and C.J. Fiedorowicz. A year ago at this time, Illinois had 12 commitments in a class of 22.

"Last year, they were able to win some battles for kids that had big offers from elsewhere," Trieu said. "Same goes for this year. I think they're putting together a pretty good class. Depending on how it finishes out between now and February, they could have one of the better classes in the Big Ten. (Zook) has done a good job."

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