O-lineman Hawn back at Illinois

Offensive lineman Isaac Hawn has been on the Illinois campus several times. His latest trip to Champaign was for a spring practice on Saturday.

Hawn (6-foot-6, 285 pounds) took in the practice with his parents, and he also had the opportunity to sit down and talk football with new offensive line coach Luke Butkus.

“He seems like a great coach who knows what he’s doing,” Hawn said about Butkus. “I look forward to seeing what happens here. He talked about keeping this thing moving forward.”

A 3-star prospect according to Rivals.com, Hawn’s Illinois offer came from the previous coaching staff. He’s starting from the ground up with the Illini now that Lovie Smith has taken over the program.

He’s optimistic that the Illinois offer will still be there when it’s time to make his college decision.

“It’s going to be a process with this new staff,” Hawn said. “They haven’t really had time to evaluate the 2017 class. They will come to see me work out, and that will reaffirm it.”

Currently, Hawn has a short of list programs that are standing out to him. He has another Big Ten visit on his schedule.

“I like Illinois, obviously or I wouldn’t be here,” Hawn said. “I also like Miami-Ohio, Duke, Minnesota, and Northern Illinois. I’ll head out to Penn State in a couple of weeks or so.”

As for the practice, Hawn said he liked what he saw from the Illini during the afternoon practice on Saturday.

“I wasn’t’ sure what to expect with the new coaching, but there’s a lot of energy here,” Hawn said. “I think they are turning things around, so that’s good. Guys are flying around.”