Rivals100 athlete Marquez Beason set to visit Illinois
Rivals100 athlete Marquez Beason of Dallas (Texas) Bishop Dunne will be driving up to Illinois on Friday for an unofficial visit over the weekend.
The 5-foot-11, 175-pound four-star prospect is still scheduled to take an official visit to Illinois on April 6-8, but he decided to add an extra trip to Champaign to the schedule as well.
“I just want to take this chance to get to know the coaching staff even better and interact with them,” Beason said. “And I want to meet up with some of the freshman that I met last year like Ricky Smalling and a few of the other guys. It’ll just be a good chance for me to meet up with everyone.”
The visit will also be an opportunity for Beason to interact with new safeties coaches Bill Byrd, who has talked to Beason numerous times since his hiring two weeks ago.
“Coach Byrd and I have built a good relationship so far,” Beason said. “I’m really excited to see him in person and get the chance to see what he’s really like and how we bond. But, so far it’s been great talking with him, and I look forward to that continuing.”
A majority of Beason’s recruitment has been headed by wide-receivers coach Andrew Hayes-Stoker, who has become a strong recruiter for the Illini.
Hayes-Stoker made Beason a priority from the beginning of his recruitment, and that has paid dividends for the Illinois assistant.
“He is a really good coach and also a very good recruiter,” Beason said. “He’s a guy that really gets to know you, is a family man, and is just all about building relationships with the people around him. I’ve gotten close to him, and I really enjoy being able to talk with him.”
Hayes-Stoker also played a large role in the commitments of Bishop Dunne’s Calvin Avery and Kievan Myers in the 2018 class.
Avery and Myers are constantly giving a sales pitch to Beason about Illinois, which he takes to heart.
“Kievan and Calvin are always telling me how great of a program Illinois is and how they have NFL coaches who know what it takes to get to next level,” Beason said. “I have known Calvin since we were both little kids, and I honestly look at him like a brother. And Kievan – I’ve known him for like two and a half years now too – and he is really close to me. At the end of the day, the decision I make will be mine, but I listen to what they have to say, and they have nothing but good things to say about the program.”
Beason, ranked the No. 78 prospect nationally, recently released his top-four, which includes Illinois, LSU, Texas A&M, and Ohio State.
He described each program as “very good” with great head coaches and a lot of tradition. Although the Illini staff will have some tough competition, there is a lot that Beason likes about the Illinois program.
“What sticks out to me about Illinois is their NFL coaching experience,” Beason said. “They all have a lot of years in the NFL and a lot of experience. They know what the NFL is looking for and what it takes to play at that level. And if they can get the right players coming in, along with the players they have now, I think they are a team that can soon compete in the Big 10. It’s a good program and good school, and the coaches are some of the best.”
On his visit, Beason will also be accompanied by his cousin Zeriah Beason, a highly regarded 2020 receiver.
Illinois will be pushing hard to get a commitment from Marquez Beason, which would mark the first commitment in what the Illini staff hopes to be a strong 2019 class.
Beason would neither confirm nor deny the potential for a commitment over the weekend, but he did mention what will be the most important factors to him when it comes time for him to make a decision.
“The things that are going to matter most to me are education, family, and playing time,” Beason said.