Florida receiver holds Illini offer

Illinois has been active recruiting Lovie Smith’s old stomping grounds in the Tampa Bay area. The latest offer is to 2018 Largo (Fla.) wide receiver Calvin Lockett.

With the recruitment led by wide receiver coach Andrew Hayes-Stoker, Illinois got an early start pursuing Lockett.

“I feel good about the offer,” Lockett said. “I was excited when I found out I had it. I look forward to finding out more about the school.”

According to Lockett, Hayes-Stoker wants to get him on campus to check out the school in person.

“He sounds like a good coach,” Lockett said. “I want to see more. We are planning on getting me up there this summer to make a visit.”

Illinois is also hot after one of Lockett’s high school teammates, senior defensive end Bobby Roundtree. Roundtree plans to visit Illinois soon.

It’s still early in Lockett’s recruiting, but he named a few schools that have shown the most interest so far.

“Illinois, Southern Miss, Toledo, and Indiana,” he said. “And I’m setting up a game to go visit USF.”

Lockett said his junior senior is going pretty well, although his team has posted a disappointing 3-5 schedule. He has five touchdowns, and also lines up at safety on defense.

He wants to visit and learn more about Illinois. One thing he is very aware of is the NFL coaching experience of Lovie Smith.

“I watched Lovie Smith as the Buccaneers coach, and I feel like he’s a good coach and is in a good position at Illinois,” Lockett said.