Bret Bielema has shown a penchant for recruiting brothers, which he says dates back to his time recruiting a pair of Watt brothers to Wisconsin. But Bielema has revved up his familial recruiting at Illinois.
After this fall, Bielema will have coached six sets of brothers at Illinois, including Sydney Brown and Chase Brown and Jake Hansen and Lane Hansen. The 2025 Illini roster will include three sets of brothers — James Kreutz and Josh Kreutz, Xavier Scott and Xanai Scott and Tywan Cox and Torrie Cox Jr. — while incoming freshman quarterback Jershaun Newton is the younger brother of Illini defensive line great Jer’Zhan Newton.
Bielema is attempting to add another set of brothers to his program. Hinsdale Central stars Gene Riordan and Tommy Riordan visited Illinois on Saturday. Gene, a three-star Class of 2026 offensive lineman, long has had an Illinois offer, and Bielema and his staff offered Tommy, a Class of 2027 edge rusher/tight end prospect, earlier this week…