Programming note: Bob Asmussen will be chatting for 12 hours starting at 8 a.m. Wednesday. Submit questions here

Also, we have Q&As with everyone expected to sign with Illinois, They will be released as letters of intent arrive Wednesday.

By BOB ASMUSSEN

There are no five-star recruits like Martez Wilson or Arrelious Benn. The national rankings are far below the standard set in recent years.

Rivals.com has Illinois at No. 70, the lowest by 19 spots during the last nine years. Scout.com has the Illini at No. 52, five spots lower than the 2002 class.

According to Rivals.com, the Illinois class has one four-star player (quarterback Chandler Whitmer). There are nine three-star players and seven with two stars.

Randy Taylor, director of NCSA Recruiting 360, said the current Illini class lacks immediate impact players.

"I do see talent," Taylor said. "Jonathan Brown, I really like him. Michael Heitz, I really like him. He's a possible left tackle kid. Danny Foose is another one. He's got a nasty streak, and he's got the size. Those two kids as young offensive linemen could be a pretty good pair on either side of the line."

The Illinois coaches will tell you they don't care about stars. They will talk about their own rating system, one that includes a player's ability to fit into their system.

And they will have a point. Nobody in the Class of 2010 is a sure thing. Just like nobody was a guaranteed star in 2009. Or 2008.

Florida-bound defensive end Ronald Powell, considered the No. 1 player according to Rivals.com, seems to have everything it takes to become a college star. But the expectations are enormous. And so many things can go wrong between now and the NFL: injuries, coaching changes, academics, homesickness, etc.

"There are a whole bunch of guys that I see are going places who are not five-star guys, but I'd recruit them over some of the five-star kids," Taylor said.

You can argue all you want about who will become the next Vince Young (top recruit in 2002) or Adrian Peterson (best of 2004). And who becomes the next Whitney Lewis (No. 3 in 2003), who left Southern Cal after two years and finished his career at Northern Iowa.

You can't argue that Illinois is getting players rated as highly as in recent seasons. The 2009 Illini class had seven four-star players. In 2008, there were six four-star recruits. And the 2007 class included five-star players Wilson and Benn, plus five four-star recruits.

The quality depth isn't there like it has been in the past at Illinois, ESPN recruiting expert Tom Luginbill said.

"We like the upper third of the class," Luginbill said. "We've been a little disappointed in the overall strengths. We always try to break classes down into thirds. The reality is that the middle third and the bottom third need to be some guys that could develop into the upper-echelon guy down the road.

"While we like the top end, we just haven't seen the same caliber of player in the middle and bottom end that we've seen in previous classes."

There are two players in the Illinois class that ESPN hadn't done a report on: fullbacks Jake Howe and Jay Prosch.

Taylor said he wasn't aware of all the Illinois recruits until after they made their commitments. Then, he found tape on the players.

"It's not like they're bringing in bad players," Taylor said. "You've got to be able to evaluate, develop and coach. That's how you win."

Figuring out the reason for the drop is easy, Luginbill said. Illinois went from a Rose Bowl team after the 2007 season to 5-7 to 3-9.

"The product on the field this past fall has affected them," Luginbill said. "What they've got to do is get better on the gridiron next year so it doesn't happen again."

The Illinois staff landed the current class with five new assistant coaches, including changes in the offensive, defensive and recruiting coordinators.

When Paul Petrino was hired as the new offensive coordinator, he had less than two months to get to know the prospects. New defensive coordinator Vic Koenning joined the staff later. And the team continues to operate without a recruiting coordinator, though that title actually belongs to Ron Zook.

The current class includes players from 10 states, with seven from Illinois. The new assistant coaches have moved into areas the Illini hadn't recruited much in the past.

"I think it's OK," national recruiting expert Tom Lemming said. "As long as they're getting the top-notch players, it doesn't matter where they are coming from. You go where the coaches feel the most comfortable and have the strongest ties."

Lemming said Illinois can survive a year with a lower-rated class.

"I don't think it has to be a big deal," Lemming said. "Illinois has done well the last few years. If they right the ship next year, it will all be forgotten. You can't have two bad years in a row, though."

Luginbill said it's too early to tell what kind of an impact the new coaches have had. It will be easier to judge after the coaches have been with the program for a year, through an entire recruiting cycle.

Taylor said staff changes can have an impact on recruiting for years. Mike Locksley helped Illinois draw some of the best Washington, D.C., area players to Illinois before taking over as New Mexico's head coach.

"You lose a Locksley because he's good," Taylor said. "You can't fault Zook or him for that."

Though national rankings draw most of the attention, Lemming looks closely at the conference recruiting standings. It's a down year for the league, recruitingwise, Lemming said.

"I would say they are probably fourth in conferences," Lemming said. "If Illinois winds up 11th, there's not much difference between one and 11."

It doesn't take top-ranked classes to win at a high level. In the past five seasons, the Boise State classes have been rated No. 64, 70, 68, 89 and 72, according to Rivals.com. Utah, which beat Alabama in the 2009 Sugar Bowl, has been at No. 59, 55, 71, 60 and 44.

"Everybody gets caught up in the stars, and that's important, but there's a whole bunch of schools that have done a great deal of winning with less stars on their recruits," Taylor said. "Some of it may have to do with finding good players who may not be immediate impact guys."