Wednesday's Almost Here

(This article originally appeared on www.orangeandbluenews.com.)

Qunicy (Ill.) Notre Dame offensive tackle Jack Cornell verbally committed to Ron Zook's Fighting Illini program in December. The 6-foot-7 two-time all-stater had previously committed to Michigan State before that staff was fired at the end of the 2006. Cornell talks about signing with Illinois in this ready to sign update.

"I can't wait for Wednesday. We will have something at my school for everyone when I sign."

"The whole recruiting process, it was stressful at times but really I enjoyed it most of the time. After the staff at Michigan State was let go, it got more stressful but I narrowed things down to three schools real quick so I didn't have to deal with a bunch of other schools coming in and asking for visits and my time to talk about their school. But I met a lot of great coaches and great guys at each school I visited, overall, I enjoyed the whole process."

And after John L. Smith was let go, why Illinois? "Really, Coach Zook, Coach Sims, Coach Warinner all were coaches that stood out for me. I had gotten to know them, trusted them and they were behind me. I really trusted all of them and they were honest, no gray areas and I appreciated that. My family especially appreciated that. No big promises, it was the 'we are building this program back up and we want guys from the state of Illinois to be that foundation' and that sounded good to me."

Fellow Illini commitment Mike Garrity and Cornell became friends on their official visit to Champaign in December. "Yeah, Mike is a great guy. It's going to be sweet playing on the line with him for four or five years. I made a couple of good friends when I camped at Michigan State but when those guys were fired, we wanted to play together but once that happened, I decided I had to do what was best for me and move. But meeting Garrity on my visit, we were friends pretty quickly, got along great. I also talk to Arrelious Benn a lot, I am looking forward to blocking for him at Illinois."

Any specific position at Illinois the coaches have talked about Cornell playing on the line? "They say that my athleticism means I can play anywhere on the line. I want to come in to camp and compete to see where I am at. If they want me to play, fine, if they want me to redshirt, fine. I just want to come in and work my ass off and improve, win some games at Illinois."

Thoughts on the Illini football recruiting class of 2007? "I think it's special to be a part of this class that so many are rating highly. But my goal is to compete in the top twenty nationally on the field not just on the Rivals rankings or whoever is ranking that stuff. I want to go out and help prove that ranking on the field. Coach Zook talks about all of us being the best we can be and going out on the field and winning games, that's the bottom line."