Junior CB talks recruiting, Illini
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2016 prospect A'shon Riggins from Hamilton (Ohio) High School grabbed an offer from the Illini staff recently. It was an exciting moment for the 6-foot, 162-pound defensive back, who found himself shocked in the moment.
"Well I was speechless at first," Riggins said. "I didn't think I would get any offers before spring time. But getting my first offer from the Illini is the sweetest thing ever."
Assistant coach Alex Golesh will be the main recruiter on Riggins. Although the two are still fairly new to each other, Golesh has made a very positive first impression.
"He came down to my school last year but I wasn't able to talk to him and had to wait until this week to finally get a chance to really meet him," Riggins said. "He's a nice guy. He's straight forward with what he says which, from a player's side, is what you want."
Riggins admits to not knowing much about Illinois except for what Golesh has told him. The main aspect they have discussed is the strong academic integrity of Illinois, which has really grabbed Riggin's attention.
"I still don't know a ton about Illinois, but he told me that they're a top academic school in the country which is really good," Riggins said. "I always believe in student-athlete. I really focus on my school work. So, Illinois definitely has an advantage there right now."
Riggins will have an opportunity to learn more about Illinois as he plans to visit Illinois this upcoming weekend or the next. However, the only thing he really wants to do is get a better feeling of the game day experience in Champaign.
"I just want to get a feel of the Illini environment," Riggins said. "I'm not looking for anything specific yet because it's just game visits. I just want to see how it feels to be an Illini."
Hamilton failed to win a game this year, which Riggins was very distraught over. He was sidelined the first three games because of an MCL sprain but came back and was able to be an impact player for his team.
"When I came back our starting QB was hurt so I was playing both ways for about three weeks," Riggins said. "Eventually I got to just play defense only and I ended with three interceptions, which was third in our league. I was happy how it went with only four games up under my belt at mainly corner."
Eastern Michigan, Ohio State, UConn, Minnesota, West Virginia, Virginia, and Tennessee are the other schools recruiting Riggins at this time. Known as a superb athlete, he discussed the other aspects of his game that make him stick out.
"I can track the ball really good like a wideout, which really is useful,"
Riggins said. "I use to play wideout so I can anticipate routes the receivers are about to run as well."
Riggins is also exploring the possibility of playing basketball in college. Wright State, Belmont, Ball State, and Dayton have been recruiting him to play hoops, so he still has kept that option available for him.
Between trying to figure out which sport and play and hope that much more will unfold in his football recruitment, Riggins is far from a decision.
"I still have my senior year and really have no idea on what is going to happen right now, so I'm going to wait it out a little bit longer and see what happens," Riggins said.