Shiloh Christian LB sizes up Illinois

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• By Richard Davenport
• 9:31AM on May 1st, 2009

Back in March, Illinois told Shiloh Christian linebacker Mitchell Roberts that the school would offer him a scholarship if he would visit and they could see he was the 6-3, 230pounds that he’s listed as.
Offer secured. Roberts, who has 4.8 speed in the 40-yard dash, visited the campus late last week and passed the eye test.

Roberts attended Friday afternoon’s practice session and was offered by offensive line coach Joe Gilbert. The offer was his second, Tulsa offered him earlier as a H-back while the Fighting Illini see him as a linebacker.

Illinois head coach Ron Zook impressed Roberts by sitting down with him in his office for a 45-minute conversation.

“We talked about his family and what Illinois had to offer,” Roberts said. “Also what the football program had to offer and what made them different. He’s a really down to earth guy. He was the first head coach that I’ve had a one-on-one conversation with. He took the time and made me feel at home. He made an effort to get to know me.”

Roberts said Zook’s relationship with his players reminded him of the type of relationship Shiloh coaches have with their players.

“He said he wanted to know his players so well that when something is bothering them and they walked in, he could tell,” said Roberts, who said he plans to attend camps  at Arkansas, Auburn, Alabama and Ole Miss this summer. “He said whether or not they would tell him or not, it’s their business but he wants to know if something is bothering one of his players. That kind of stuck out to me. That scored some points with me.”

Illinois’ facilities impressed Roberts, especially the weight room.

“It was really, really nice,” Roberts said. “It’s supposed to be the largest in the nation. It was gorgeous.”

The stadium had an unusual look to it, according to Roberts, who took in the spring game on Saturday.

“I wasn’t use to seeing a stadium like that,” he said “It didn’t really look like a stadium from the outside. It almost looked like a building. It has big doors; you really can’t see the stands from the outside.”

Several big named schools plan to see Shiloh Christians’ spring practices over the next few weeks.

“Alabama said they’re coming down,” Roberts said. “The Arkansas coaches said they’ll be there. Coach (Joe) Gilbert told me he’ll be there the 22nd. (Illinois) Coach (Dan) Disch the defensive coordinator said he was going to come down and try to watch me with coach Gilbert but he said he didn’t know he was going to be able to be there or not.”

Roberts said Indiana appears to be close to offering while Nebraska is starting to show interest.