With national signing day in the books, CSN Chicago took a stab at ranking the recruiting hauls in the Big Ten, and spoke to analyst Tom Lemming to get his thoughts on how things went for the conference's schools during this recruiting cycle.
Illinois checks in at No. 12 in the class rankings, which is not altogether surprising given how little time new coach Tim Beckman had to recruit to Illinois. As Lemming notes, Beckman walked into a disadvantageous situation since many of the area's prospects had already picked a college before he was hired:
"A year from now, you will know if he has the ability to recruit at the Big 10 level," Lemming said. "He didn't have enough time to recruit when he got to Illinois. Most Illinois kids were gone. And St. Louis and Indianapolis, too. He didn't have many places to turn to. His 2012 class won't be reflective on how well he will do in the future."
Illinois' class was ranked No. 69 overall by Scout.com.
For updates, stay tuned to SB Nation Chicago, and for more in-depth Illinois recruiting coverage, visit Hail to the Orange. Click on the link for more on National Signing Day 2012.