The question everyone's asking, with all these football prospects running around campus from Louisiana, Florida and Connecticut, is: "How good are they ... really?

And the answer, even as Prep Football Report publisher Tom Lemming puts Illinois in the lower half of the Big Ten, is the same as always: "Check back in four years."

"We're at 14 right now," said new UI coach Ron Turner Sunday, "and we're very pleased. We need more depth and size in the line, and we were able to identify some big people up front. Altogether, we'd like to wind up with seven or eight, or perhaps even nine linemen. We'd also like to improve team speed, and we haven't been able to address that as much as we need to.

"What helped was that our staff had a lot of connections – without that, it would have been difficult – and they came in with some good lists that we were able to check out. Tim Kish (defensive coordinator from Northwestern) has been recruiting Florida for 15 years. The South has also been a primary recruiting area for O'Neill Gilbert, Buddy Teevens and Jim Helms.

"We couldn't do much in Illinois because most of the good players committed early, and we're told it was a down year to begin with. But if we've concentrated our immediate efforts out of state, we intend to change that in May. We'll send seven coaches, including myself, into the Chicago area for a full week. And we'll also bombard St. Louis with three or four coaches. We'll make a big local push for next year's recruiting class."

List at 14 and counting

So far, with more breakthroughs likely after the big recruiting weekend, 14 prospects have indicated they'll join the Turner fold (signing date is Feb. 5):

Linebackers – Mondrian Long, 6-3, 220, Sarasota Riverview, Fla.

Defensive backs – Anthony Hurd, 5-11, 185, New Orleans St. Augustine; Robert Jackson, 6-1, 195, Corvallis-Crescent Valley, Ore.

Defensive linemen – Jason Eberhart, 6-3, 240, St. Louis Mehlville; Oliver King, 6-4, 275, Saginaw, Mich.

Offensive linemen – Luke Butkus, 6-4, 260, Chicago Heights Bloom; Ray Redziniak, 6-4, 280, Milford Prep, Conn.; Jay Kulaga, 6-5, 340, Seminole, Fla.; Daniel Cutter, 6-5, 290, Tampa Catholic, Fla.

Quarterbacks – Brian Hodges, 6-5, 245, Olympia Fields Rich Central; Jeff Ziegler, 6-5, 200, Jackson Lumen Christi, Mich.

Running backs – Jameel Cook, 6-0, 210, Miami Southridge.

Wide Receivers – Nick Piazza, 6-1, 185, New Lenox Lincoln-Way.

Tight ends – Robby Long, 6-3 245, Centennial.

"The University of Illinois has a lot to offer," said Turner. "If we can get a visit, we feel we have a good chance. Illinois is not a hard sell."

Tate's tidbits:

– With reports alternately calling Eric Jefferson "in the fold" and "off the team," it now appears extremely unlikely the big freshman lineman from Louisiana will remain as a squad member, a likelihood that Lou Tepper assistants indicated months ago after Jefferson left the 1996 squad due to what has been described as "severe depression."

– Not counting Oregon's Jackson and non-attending 1996 recruit Eberhart, both of whom had to be "re-recruited" after Turner came aboard, the seven commitments since Turner arrived show four from Florida and one each from Louisiana, Michigan and Connecticut.

– Among the official visitors this past weekend was Matt Carlton, 340-pounder from College of DuPage. Turner also hosted running backs Sean Gregory (5-10, 185) of Homewood-Flossmoor, Dawayne Wood (5-9, 180) of Slidell-Salmen, La., and Correll Buckhalter (6-1, 210) of Collins Miss. Others here were linebacker Matt Uremovich (6-3, 205) of New Lenox Providence, tight end Josh Whitman (6-4, 232) of West Lafayette, Ind., Harrison and linemen Keydrick Vincent (6-6, 315) of Lakeland-Lake Gibson, Fla., Adrian Cole (6-4, 285) of Houston Nimitz, Texas, and Ernie Moore (6-6, 240) of Slidell-Salmen, La.

– Turner doesn't believe in telling a recruit that he'll be redshirted. Said the coach: "I want them coming here with a mind set that they're going to play. We tell every recruit that he'll get an opportunity to help. We want each athlete to prepare with a sense of urgency. And we want each member of our staff to coach them that way."

Loren Tate writes for The News-Gazette. His column on Illini recruiting will continue weekly through the basketball season.