Recruiting news is flowing fast and furious as prospects return from key visits, and Rivals national analyst Greg Smith has all the latest buzz from the Midwest.
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Blade is one of the next big-time defensive lineman to come out of Illinois. The 2026 four-star was in Champaign for the Illini’s big win over Kansas. It was an eye-opening experience for him to be in a crazy environment for the game.
Illinois is definitely more in the mix for Blade after this weekend. Notre Dame, Miami and others are also in serious contention.
Dotson is one of the best prospects I’ve seen in person so far this season. He racked up 17 tackles the night I saw him and followed that up with a pick-six the next week. He’s committed to Pitt but was in Ann Arbor for the matchup with Texas.
Coming out of that game the buzz is that he’s firmly committed to the Panthers but Michigan won’t be the last program to try and flip him this season.
Grimsley, who recently backed off of a commitment to South Dakota, has burst onto the recruiting scene after a hot start to his senior season.
He’s hearing from Iowa and Eastern Michigan most right now but look for many Power Four programs to get involved here.
Higgins is an important regional recruit for Nebraska. He was back in Lincoln for the matchup with Colorado and was blown away by the atmosphere. Nebraska is making a real move for the four-star out of Kansas.
This could be another Nebraska versus Oklahoma battle for a front seven defender.
The Minnesota native has been picking up steam in the 2026 class recently. He holds offers from Iowa and Iowa State among others so it was intriguing that he was in Iowa City for the rivalry game.
Voss had a great time and a lot of fun on the visit. Minnesota and Wisconsin are also programs to watch in this recruitment.
Walker has been on the radar of many Power Four programs but that hasn’t translated into offers quite yet. Things could be picking up for him soon though.
He’s had a strong start to his junior season and completed 78 percent of his passes last weekend. He’ll take a visit to Virginia this weekend and the team offered him recently. He’s excited to see the atmosphere on campus and get to know the coaches better.
Wilmes is becoming a national recruit out of Kansas. He holds offers from Wisconsin, Kansas State and Iowa but several programs outside the region are showing interest.
That includes Clemson where he visited this weekend. Wilmes grew up a Clemson fan so it was great for him to see the gameday experience in person as he keeps building the relationship with the staff.
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