Illinois 2019 Signing Period: D-I Commits

A month into the signing period’s floodgates opening, it’s time to check in to see where the Class of 2019 stands. Who’s headed where? To which conferences? How many are sticking close to home?

It’s important to note that we broke down all of the in-state D-I programs at length on Tuesday. You can find Part One here and Part Two here. If you’re looking for full, detailed breakdowns of Illinois’ top programs and their complete 2019 recruiting classes, check it out. This post, however, is reserved for all of the D-I-committed prospects whom are either sticking around Illinois or are headed around the country to fulfill their next-level obligations.

This year, as you might already be aware, the NCAA has altered the signing period in which prep baseball prospects are eligible to sign their official National Letter of Intent (NLI). Rather than two separate signing periods, like it was previously – one week-long period in November that would re-open again in April – the 2018-19 signing period opened in November and it won’t close until Aug. 1.

So, how many prospects are headed to the Big Ten next fall? How many are headed to The Valley? Which top prospects are headed to the prestigious SEC or ACC conferences?

We’ll be breaking it down for you all it once. And make sure to check out the very bottom of this post for a listing of every Illinois 2019 recruit marching to D-I baseball next fall.

MISSOURI VALLEY

As per usual, the Missouri Valley and the Big Ten conferences corralled the largest portion of Illinois recruits in the 2019 class. The MVC just edged out the Big Ten by a single prospect to become the conference welcoming the largest list of Illinois talent come fall of 2019. There will be 17 of our state’s prospects heading to seven Valley schools, five of whom are headed to Carbondale to become Salukis.

We took a closer look at Southern Illinois’ class as a whole on Tuesday, but it’s evident that they were busy making sure they took advantage of this recruiting class. A year after bringing no in-state prospects onto campus, they’ll be bringing five Illinois prepsters on, headlined by top recruit RHP Kyle Dixon (Carlinville).

Bradley and Indiana State are each bringing three Illinois prospects to campus next fall. Bradley’s Taylor Catton (Dunlap) is the highest-ranked of the six players headed to the schools but the Indiana State-bound Cameron Edmonson (Rochester) isn’t too far behind on the Illinois board. The southpaw works quickly and has feel for his four-pitch mix, especially his fastball, which has late life through the zone and sits 86-88 mph. Joining Edmonson as Sycamores next year are two fellow top-100 prospects, 3B Charlie Allison (Rock Island) and RHP Matt Jachec (Hampshire).

The six other prospects are spread fairly evenly amongst the rest of the conference. The top recruit in Illinois heading to The Valley, per our rankings, is OF Gregory Ziegler (Joliet Catholic). The Missouri State Bears successfully signed Ziegler to an NLI in November and with it, officially committed one of the top bats and athletes in this class. He’s a top-15 prospect in the state and has a chance to insert himself early into a traditionally powerful MSU program.

Elsewhere in The Valley, C Max Malley (Marist) at Evansville, RHP Ryan Klainos (Libertyville) at Valpo, and RHP/SS Ryan Cermak (Riverside-Brookfield) at Illinois State all are capable of making their presence felt as soon as the spring of 2020.

BIG TEN

While the Big Ten falls a prospect short of matching the MVC’s recruiting class total, it makes up for it in overall talent – spanning ranks Nos. 9 to 72 in the state’s 2019 class. Naturally, the powerhouse in Champaign is the taking advantage of the state’s top talent. The Illinois program is responsible for signing nine of its home state’s top-ranked recruits, including three top-15 prospects: 2B/SS Brody Harding (Moline), RHP Grant Leader (Lyons Township), and LHP Cole Kirschsieper (Lincoln-Way East).

Looking outside our own state, the top-ranked 2019 prospect not headed to Illinois is Barrington’s Clark Elliott, a Michigan commit, who was praised on the latest edition of Coffee & Curveballs by National Crosschecker Shooter Hunt. Elliott has a strong case to be named the state’s most electric athlete. He’s a 6.50 runner in the 60-yard dash and has the tools to stick around the middle of the field, though that foot speed might play best eventually in center. His speed complements his all-fields spray approach from the left-handed batter’s box, giving him a robust skillset that’s set to flourish next fall in Ann Arbor.

Just a single spot under Elliott on the 2019 board is the similarly dynamic Michael Bolton (Brother Rice), who’s headed to Purdue. He, too, has the quick-twitch traits that could allow him to excel at the next level.

The other prospects moving to their new Big Ten homes in the fall will be Iowa’s C Tyler Snep (Lake Zurich), the two Northwestern-bound righties Jack Sauser (Normal University) and Coby Moe (Grayslake Central), the recent Nebraska commit RHP Kyle Wisch (Hinsdale Central), and Minnesota’s Michael Gurka (Joliet Catholic). Snep is ranked highest among this group of five and simultaneously has the chance to make the biggest and quickest impact for his behind-the-plate skills and bat strength from the left side.

HORIZON LEAGUE

On Tuesday, we covered the trio arms headed to UIC next fall, in addition to Prairie Ridge backstop Alexander Powers, but there are seven other Illinois seniors with the Horizon League on their minds, including four Wisconsin-Milwaukee commits: OF Jake Novak (Loyola Academy), RHP Nick Gilhaus (Normal Community), RHP Matthew Boyer (Edwardsville), and RHP Dylan Szajkovics (Plainfield North).

Of the four above, the Ramblers’ Novak could emerge as the prospect set to make the biggest influence in Milwaukee. He’s been on the rise in 2018 and has the raw skillset and athleticism to be molded into a real contributor at the collegiate level. Novak has the foot speed, bat speed, and looseness it’ll take to make the leap into college ball.

Elsewhere in the conference, two prospects are headed to Oakland to become Golden Grizzlies: 3B Michael Chialdikis (Lake Zurich) and INF Austin Higgins (Fremd). And Northern Kentucky will welcome Marian Catholic’s 3B Michael Bohlen to campus next fall.

OHIO VALLEY

There’s some real talent making its way to the Ohio Valley in its 2019 class. Marist’s Kendal Ewell is among them and he’s coming off a phenomenal performance across the high-profile rounds he made this past summer. Eastern Kentucky has benefitted from the early commitment and faith they showed in Ewell in November of 2017. Since, Ewell has climbed the 2019 board, up 20 spots, and is comfortably within the state’s top-10 prospects. He planted his flag on among the state’s best in the fall when he starred at the PBR Fall Championships, showing that all of his elite raw talent was actualizing onto the field.

A little further down the 2019 rankings, but not much, is Lincoln-Way East’s middle infielder Ryan Ritter. The Austin Peay commit is another on-the-rise prospect in this class. He’s an athletic, projectable prospect who’s sound on defense with a bat that’s progressing positively, with increasing gap-to-gap ability.

RHP Tyler Statler (Hononegah) is another prospect who warrants mentioning here. He’s a Southeast Missouri State recruit and former PBR Future Gamer built at a durable 6-foot-5 and has touched 90 mph in front of our staff before.

MID-AMERICAN

Typically, there’s a little more MAC-tion in the conference’s Illinois recruiting – it had signed 16 recruits by this time last year – but the window is really just opening and there’s time for them to make up ground in the months ahead. The eight prospects who are MAC bound are divvied up fairly evenly; two recruits are committed to Kent State and Northern Illinois each. The remaining four are signed to Miami (OH), Ball State, Western Michigan, and Central Michigan.

Northern Illinois may have done the best within their own state, bringing the two highest-ranked prospects on this list aboard, with OF Pierce Jones (Marian Catholic) and C Jacob Schroeder (Homewood-Flossmoor).

Kent State’s Collin Witzke (Oswego East) is a big, projectable righty who can pound the zone with his mid-80s fastball that topped 88 mph at the PBR Fall Championships. Josh Mrozek (Sandburg) is a fleet-footed second baseman who’s loose in the left-handed box with some lift in his swing.

The versatile middle infielder Parker Mathieson (Normal University) plays with the kind of high motor and quick twitch that can help jumpstart a new-look Chippewas program by the time he arrives on campus.

SEC

There are six Illinois prospects set to play in the esteemed SEC, as part of the 2019 class. Three are headed to Arkansas: 1B/OF Jason Hodges (Marist), RHP Evan Gray (Belleville East), and RHP Nathan Rintz (Schaumburg). Hodges is one of the most physically advanced prospects in the entire region, allowing him to run into some of the loudest contact on the national circuit this summer. This type of game-changing power is what’s helped him become the top-ranked position player in the state. Gray’s a projectable 6-foot-3 righty who sits his fastball in the 86-89 mph range with a curveball that has real swing-and-miss potential. Rintz is a live-armed righty who’s able to run his fastball up to 91 mph with hard run. He has early feel for his three offspeed offerings, too.

Kentucky recruit Zachary Lee (Effingham) is another Illinois prospect stirring early draft interest after a successful summer. He’s a top-five-ranked prospect in the state with easy, whippy arm action who stands on the mound at a highly projectable 6-foot-4. He sat 90-93 mph at Area Codes this summer and showcased a heavy, sinking change.

And then there’s the two prospects headed to Mizzou, SS Jalen Greer (St. Rita) and RHP/INF Shane Wilhelm (Columbia). The two are ranked near each other around the top 30 in Illinois. Greer is easy and collected on the infield dirt with the arm strength to stick to the left side – his bat’s also getting better. Wilhelm has two-way capabilities, so it’ll be interesting to see how he’s used in Missouri. His fastball sat 86-88 mph back in March and he has bat strength in the right-handed box with a line-drive mindset.

THE OTHERS

• RHP Logan Mueller (Lakes Community) and SS Jared Cushing (Joliet Catholic) will represent Illinois in the Big 12 next fall, at Kansas State and Texas Tech, respectively.

• One of the Midwest’s top flamethrowers, RHP Griffin Holderfield (Oak Park-River Forest), is also one of three prospects headed to Creighton. Joining them in the Big East at Butler are 1B Lukas Galdoni (Carmel Catholic) and 3B Nick Kosmetatos (St. Francis).

• The stacked ACC will welcome two recruits to both Louisville and Notre Dame. The No. 2-ranked prospect in the state, LHP Michael Prosecky (Nazareth Academy), is set to become the latest local product on the Louisville  staff if he isn’t snagged in the draft first. C/3B Casey Kmet (St. Viator) will join his big brother on campus in South Bend, and so too will Jack Brannigan (Marist), the two-way talent who recently touched 94 mph a couple times in the fall.

• The Summit League and Western Illinois secured the huge southpaw from Rochelle Johnny Beck.

• The A-10 has three Saint Louis commits: SS Brendan Carrane (St. Rita), RHP Nathan Hardman (Normal University), and OF Khyle Radcliffe (Morgan Park).

• Two top-20 Providence Catholic prospects are headed to Arizona State next fall: OF Alex Helmin and RHP Bryce Barnett. Helmin, namely, has developed a reputation as one of the most well-rounded bats in Illinois. Barnett was up to 92 mph in February with feel over sharp curve and a power change.

• Houston-bound Dylan Post (Lincoln-Way Central) is a strong and physical left-handed bat who’s been getting better and better behind the plate, and his in-state ranking reflects that. Joining him in the AAC is Oak Forest’s LHP Connor Oliver, a Wichita State commit.

• Additional D-I conferences set to welcome Illinois prospects next fall: SWAC (2), Ivy League (2), West Coast, Big South, Atlantic Sun, WAC, and the Patriot League.

DIVISION-I COMMITS