Malik Elzy is staying home.
The Simeon wide receiver announced his commitment to play football at Illinois during Saturday’s NBC broadcast of the Adidas All-American Bowl in San Antonio.
“I went down to Illinois for a visit and I’d heard a lot of bad things about the past, but I have a vision,” Elzy told the Tribune. “And when I have a vision, I know not everything is going to go right but I know what I could do.
“And with my effort and my ability to do what I can do on the field, I can help Illinois become one of the top programs again. I can make a big impact.”
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Illinois enjoyed a resurgent season in 2022 in coach Bret Bielema’s second year in Champaign, finishing 8-5 overall and 5-4 in the Big Ten. The Illini were the early front-runners in the Big Ten West after consecutive wins over Wisconsin, Iowa, Minnesota and Nebraska before a tough closing stretch of three one-score losses — to Michigan State, Purdue and Michigan — in their last four regular-season games.
The Illini earned the program’s first bowl invitation since 2019, falling 19-10 to Mississippi State in the ReliaQuest Bowl on Monday in Tampa, Fla.
“This is going to be, hopefully, a springboard into bigger and better things,” Bielema — who agreed to a six-year contract extension in December through the end of the 2028 season — said after the bowl loss.
Elzy hopes to be a big part of that bigger and better future. The 6-foot-3, 200-pound receiver is the No. 4 recruit in the state according to the 247 Sports composite rankings.
[ [Don’t miss] Meet Simeon’s Malik Elzy, one of the state’s top football recruits ]
He decommitted from Cincinnati in October, and after much consideration and consultation with his family and coaches, Elzy chose Illinois from more than 20 Division I offers. Wisconsin, Michigan, Tennessee and Notre Dame were his other finalists.
He hopes to have an impact on recruiting in Champaign.
“I feel like I can bring a lot of recruits back into Illinois,” he said, “and Illinois could be like one of the Alabamas or Georgias.”
