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CHAMPAIGN – If recruiting is the lifeline to successful college football, it doesn't appear Ron Zook's Illini will be getting the needed transfusion from the home state.

This is not new. The UI has always faced fierce competition in Chicagoland. The metropolitan area is just as accessible for multiple Big Ten schools and Notre Dame ... and there isn't enough talent to go around, particularly with the city's preps placing such emphasis on basketball. So while trying their best in the home state, both the previous and the current Zook staffs are obliged to bolster the UI squad by looking elsewhere.

With the late arrival of Minneapolis safety Fritz Rock, the Illini have 21 freshmen on scholarship. Fifteen hail from states other than Illinois. The in-state sextet includes 5-foot-11 quarterbacks Chandler Whitmer and Miles Osei and four linemen.

The five best plebes in early UI camp, based in part on their likelihood of playing, appear to be Georgia tight end Evan Wilson, Memphis linebacker Jonathan Brown, Alabama fullback Jay Prosch, and Floridians Brandon Denmark and Darius Millines.

Looking ahead to 2011, Zook has 13 confirmed commitments with five from the state: Andrew linemen Chris O'Connor and Tony Durkin, Canton tackle Hunter Wells, Joliet Catholic running back Josh Ferguson and Wheaton South quarterback Reilly O'Toole (he was 15 for 21 with two long TD passes in Friday's 28-7 win against Hinsdale Central). Wells is listed by Rivals.com as a two-star prospect, the other four are three-stars.

Superprep offers an even more dire outlook in its preseason magazine. Ranking the top 100 preps from six Big Ten states (all except Pennsylvania and Iowa), Superprep lists 17 prospects from Illinois. Rated Nos. 3 and 4 from the state, Vernon Hills receiver Evan Spencer and Fremd lineman Brian Bobek have already given verbals to Ohio State. Of the other 15, two have committed to Illinois: No. 59 O'Toole and No. 90 Durkin.

Superprep's top-rated player from this state, 230-pound running back and linebacker Rodney Coe of Edwardsville, remains undecided as he wades through a final list of 16 that shows Illinois battling against the likes of Notre Dame, Iowa, Auburn and Missouri. Coe is the only Illinoisan in Superprep's Top 50, and did not make Rivals' Top 100, the latter group including only Kentucky-bound Glen Foster of East St. Louis at No. 90.

The premier player in the mid-state area, tackle Ryan Klachko of Springfield Sacred Heart-Griffin, will attend Nebraska. Klachko is one of seven four-star athletes committed to next year's 12th Big Ten team.

The Illini have no four-star commitments as yet. With 13 giving verbals, the UI will be able to fill at least seven more slots since sophomore fullback Greg Fuller has left the team and sophomore defensive back Walt Aikens has been denied entry to school.

Two more important thoughts: (1) Even if Zook lands the best players in the state, they fall short in comparison with athletes from the sunshine states, (2) a half-dozen players reneged on the UI this past year, reminding that verbals aren't final and (3) before you denigrate the Rivals-Scout-Superprep listings, remember that they get most of their information from the college coaches. If Scout calls Texas-bound Malcolm Brown the No. 1 running back in the country, it probably began with a tip from college recruiters.

Not-so-hot ticket

A hot Illini-Mizzou opener that drew 64,215 and 66,441 fans in St. Louis the last two years has been lagging just over 50,000 this time.

The loyal support groups have responded but sale efforts with casual fans have met so much resistance that the St. Louis Sports Commission, striving to inspire a late push, has worked out a $50 promotion whereby fans can attend Saturday's 11:30 a.m. football game and any of three Cardinals-Reds baseball games. That's quite a deal: two rivalry games for $25 apiece. Take your choice between Redbird games at 7:15 Friday, 3:15 Saturday or 1:15 Sunday by entering Cardinals.com/rivalry.

Biggest hindrances to a Jones Dome sellout are (1) it's the economy, stupid, and (2) some of Missouri's glitter faded after the Tigers finished 8-5 overall and 4-4 in the Big 12, and (3) recent injuries in the secondary planting even more uncertainty throughout Illini Nation.

Many believe the UI called a halt to the series because the Illini went 0-5 in St. Louis during the past decade. Zook's last three teams gave up 129 points in three games at the Jones Dome. If you misplaced your calculator, that's 43 per game. On the bright side, that's three fewer than Bruce Weber's 2005 NCAA runners-up allowed against Louisville (72-57 win) and North Carolina (75-70 loss) in the Jones Dome.

Swing of things

In these difficult times, with the LPGA tour suffering a loss in sponsors and tournament sites, the men's professional golf operation continues to expand.

The recent Wyndham Championship, which did not attract some of the world's best players, paid $918,000 to surprise winner Arjun Atwal. Now they're moving through the FedEx Cup playoff series of four lucrative events that began with The Barclays.

"We have had 16 new pieces of business plus renewals, and we haven't lost any tournaments," said Rick George, former Illini football player and now Director of Operations for the PGA Tour. George deals with player relations, discipline, rules, tournament business and sponsorships for the PGA.

"This bodes well for the long term," the Collinsville product said. "We have a lot of great new players coming up, with eight or nine of the year's winners under the age of 30. The TV ratings were better when Tiger Woods was winning but people will start grabbing ahold of these young players. It's good for the long term."

Concerned with rules, George addressed the Dustin Johnson decision that cost him a playoff spot in the PGA Championship. Johnson received a 2-stroke penalty for grounding his club in what was determined to be a sand bunker.

"It was the right ruling based on the warnings at Whistling Straits," George said, "but we may have to take another look at that in the future. We had 100 people standing in the sand, and a small girl built a sand castle in there. We are going to study all those bunkers that were outside the ropes."

Loren Tate writes for The News-Gazette. He can be reached at ltate@news-gazette.com.