Tight end commits to Illinois
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The Fighting Illini picked up a commitment from on Sunday from tight end Jordan Frazier from Springfield (Mo.) Lighthouse Christian. Frazier (6-foot-5, 230 pounds) said Illinois was the best fit.
"Illinois was the first big school to start recruiting me," Frazier said. "I really saw what I liked but I wanted to see other schools so I went through that process. But Illinois was a great fit for me. It's close to Chicago and it's a great school academically. The atmosphere there is ideal for me."
Frazier said he called Illinois head coach Tim Beckman Sunday night and informed him that he was committing. He also made plans to make a trip to Champaign to check out an Illinois game and get more familiar with the staff.
"Coach Beckman is awesome," Frazier said. "He was really welcoming. I told him I'll be at the Wisconsin game (in two weeks)."
The relationship that he had with his future position coach Alex Golesh was a big reason for Frazier's decision to attend Illinois.
"I talked to a lot of coaches, and I would say Coach Golesh is the most personable guy," Frazier said. "I've been able to relate to him the most. We've had a really good relationship the whole time, and that's one of the reasons I chose Illinois."
Frazier had narrowed his list and was expecting more offers, but he decided to pull the trigger and commit.
"Before I committed I narrowed it down to Arkansas, Vanderbilt, and Illinois," Frazier said. "Arkansas and Vanderbilt were both really close to offering me. Both were talking about offering this week, but because I decided that Illinois is where I want to go I decided not to wait on them."
With his combination of size and quickness, there was some talk during his recruitment that Frazier could play defense at the next level. He is a two way player in high school, lining up at defensive end and inside linebacker.
Illinois recruited him to play offense, however.
"They recruited me strictly as a tight end," Frazier said. "I split out wide in high school. They said in a lot of their formations I'll be at kind of a wide receiver position, and I'll also play some at H-back."
Frazier describes himself as a proto-typical "Big Ten" tight end.
"I'm a good blocker, but on my football team I'm best in the passing game," Frazier said. "I run a 4.6 forty. I'm leading my team in receiving and touchdowns. I'm also leading in tackles and sacks."
His plan is to graduate this December, and be at Illinois for the spring semester in 2014.
"It will help me to grow physically , work out with the team, and becoming familiar with the playbook," Frazier said. "I'm really looking forward to getting there. I've been talking to a lot of the other recruits and they are all really good guys."
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