Illini offer 2016 wide receiver

Illinois jumped into the mix Tuesday for 2016 Farmington (Mich.) wide receiver Desmond Fitzpatrick. Fresh off a visit to check out a spring practice, the 5-foot-11, 165-pound grabbed an offer from the Fighting Illini.

"Illinois is a huge offer," Fitzpatrick said. "They play in the Big Ten and play against a tough schedule every year. The coaching staff liked my film and thought that I ran really good routes and was an all-around good player. I know that I have more work to do, but it was good to know that I am headed in the right direction."

The Illini join Indiana, Cincinnati, Ohio U., Toledo, and Wake Forest in extending an offer to Fitzpatrick. More offers are likely to pop this spring and summer as he takes more campus visits and plans to keep busy on the camp circuit.

Strong interest for Fitzpatrick is coming from the Big Ten and around the nation. His next stop is South Bend to check out the Notre Dame program.

"I'm hearing from Purdue, Michigan State, Michigan, Kentucky, Notre Dame, Ohio State, Oregon, UCLA, Florida State, Louisville and the six schools that offered me," Fitzpatrick. "We are visiting Notre Dame, Eastern Michigan and Wake Forest this week."

Tuesday was the first time Fitzpatrick was on campus in Champaign, and he came away with a good impression of Tim Beckman's program.

"I thought that the coaching staff was really energetic and fired up during practice," he said. "It seems like several coaches are players coaches and communicate well with the players. I loved the historical look and feel of the stadium, and I liked the weight room and the rest of the facilities."

Defensive coordinator Tim Banks heads Fitzpatrick's recruitment for the Illini, and the two had a chance to chat about the program on Tuesday. Fitzpatrick also spent time hanging out with WR coach Mike Bellamy and his crew.

"We had a chance to sit in on meetings and watched practice," Fitzpatrick said. "They run the west coast offense and throw the ball a lot. Every coach was really fired up and practice was fast and intense. They seem to get allot done and push their players."

On the field last fall, Fitzpatrick put together a solid sophomore campaign in his first year playing varsity football at Farmington.

"I had a pretty good year considering working with a new QB and new offense," Fitzpatrick said. "I caught 34 balls for 540 yards. Our team struggled a little with injuries, but we will be back strong this year."

Fitzpatrick is getting to know as many coaches and visiting as many schools as he can. At some point, he will start to thinking about a list of top schools, but it's still very early in the process.

"I don't have any favorites really," Fitzpatrick said. "I stopped rooting hard for teams in the 8th grade when I started thinking about making my own college choice."