Guenther's words impress Proviso East coach

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Illinois athletic director Ron Guenther’s vote of confidence for Ron Zook worked for at least one future Illini, Proviso East’s Corey Cooper.

“It was a great thing that the university stepped up and said that Zook will be returning,” Proviso East coach Aaron Peppers said. “If you don’t make that announcement, the recruits he had are still kind of like, ‘Hey, is this guy coming back? We need to know.’ ” 

Though Cooper has been linked to Notre Dame, Tennessee, Arizona and Nebraska, Peppers expects his star defensive back to end up at Illinois.

“He’ll do his visits, and he’ll end up going to Illinois,” Peppers said. “It’s a win-win.”

Don’t believe what you read about Cooper, Peppers said. There were rumors that Cooper canceled a visit to Illinois this weekend. That wasn’t the case.

“That was just a miscommunication,” Peppers said. “The big recruiting weekend is Dec. 11. That’s when they invited Corey.”

Peppers said he doesn’t like the term “soft verbal,” which has been the description of Cooper’s commitment to Illinois.

“What’s a soft verbal? Did he whisper it?” Peppers said.

Peppers wants to see the Illinois program improve the rest of the season. And he thinks it will be critical for recruiting.

“They’re on notice,” Peppers said. “I look at it like the season we had this year at Proviso East (2-7 finish). We could have easily been 5-4. A dropped pass here. A missed assignment there. A hand-it-to-you ref call here and there. But, it happens. It’s a humbling experience.”

Peppers said recruits should look beyond the current season.

“You can’t look down on a program when a guy (Zook) has come in and done something that hasn’t been done in 25 years, going to the Rose Bowl,” Peppers said. “He knows what he’s doing. He came in with the philosophy that he’s all about the Illinois recruits and he still stands by it. I would hope that Illinois recruits would stand by him. That’s the way I would look at it.”

Other players on the Illinois commitment list are sticking with the school.
Andy Gallik, an offensive lineman from Chicago Brother Rice, hasn’t wavered.

“Andy committed, first and foremost, to the University of Illinois,” Brother Rice coach Steve Nye said. “You always tell kids, ‘Coaches, especially assistant coaches, come and go. You want to make sure that you’re comfortable with the school and the relationships you have there.’ That’s the way he’s thinking and that’s the way he’s thought all along. As long as Illinois feels that same way about him, and they said they have, he’s committed to it.”

Gallik’s reason for picking Illinois certainly included the coaching staff. But he also wants to be close to home at a top school.

“He loves the University of Illinois and that’s always where he wanted to go to school,” Nye said.

Chicago Christian coach Joe Hamstra said Illinois’ current 1-6 record is only one of the factors considered by recruits.

“I do not think college prospects make a decision based solely on the current
troubles,” Hamstra said. “Yes, it weighs in on the decision. It has been my experience that a player is committed to a school since he was young. In the state of Alabama, for instance, from the day you are born, it’s either Alabama or Auburn. It’s not their record or their coach. I know Illinois is not the
same, but the idea is that a blue-chipper knows in his heart where he wants
to go. Another big factor is ‘How soon can I play?’ ”

New Berlin coach Jeff Harres said he isn’t surprised by the team’s record.

“When I saw their schedule, I told myself that they very well could start out 1-4, and when that happens it becomes a confidence thing,” Harres said.
“They can still turn things around and have a decent season recordwise and have momentum going into next season. The negativity is sickening. Who are they going to get that is any better?”

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