(This article originally appeared on www.orangeandbluenews.com.)
Chicago Simeon five star defender Martez Wilson, perhaps the biggest fish in Illinois' 2007 recruiting pond, decided to commit to the Illini when he decided that head coach Ron Zook was a voice he could trust.
"You get to hear all these different stories, so you have to be worried about who is telling you the right stuff, and what to believe," Wilson said Thursday. "But Coach Zook helped me because he's a good coach, and what he was telling me was helping me with my decision."
Wilson said that a specific portion of Zook's sales pitch sold him on the Illini.
"I want to come in and start, and I want to go somewhere that I can help them, and I knew Illinois could give me that," said Wilson. "That's why I went there."
One of the top defenders in the nation, according to Rivals.com, Wilson has very specific goals for his freshman season.
"I want to be a freshman All-American, and I'd like to be one of the top five or ten tacklers in the Big 10. I want to have a good year."
If Wilson continues the momentum he built during his senior year of high school, big contributions in the box score may become a regularity. According to the Rivals.com database, Wilson logged a staggering 140 tackles during his senior campaign. Playing the rare wide receiver/defensive end combo, Wilson also caught 42 balls for nine touchdowns, including while being guarded by fellow Illini recruit Miami Thomas.
"All the scouts and everyone had Miami as a good corner, in Chicago," Wilson said. "But to me, when I was going out for a pass, I felt no one could stick me period. He just couldn't stick me on that play."
Wilson and several members of the Illini's new Chicago crew have relationships that extend back as far as grammar school football and, in the case of Wilson and Darius Purcell, pre-school day care.
"I talk to those guys as much as I can," said Wilson. "We're all gonna be teammates now."
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