‘Edgy’ Tim: Carmel’s Taylor narrows list to five schools

Carmel Catholic sophomore quarterback Trae Taylor (6-foot-3, 180 pounds), the 13th best recruit in the nation in the class of 2027 according to Rivals.com, announced his Top 5 schools list which includes Nebraska, LSU, Illinois, Texas A&M and Michigan.

Taylor is planning to make his early college decision on June 6.

Taylor, who holds 35 scholarship offers, has been in the national recruiting spotlight since grade school. Taylor and his family have traveled the nation extensively over the past handful of years. While it's rare to see an underclassman this young make such an early decision, very few players and families have put in as much time in preparation.

Naperville North’s Hill sets visit

Naperville North junior defensive tackle Gabriel Hill (6-foot-2, 250 pounds) has set his first official visit for this spring and recapped his plans.

“I set an official visit to Indiana on (April 25-27),” Hill said. “I've been in contact with the Indiana coaches for some time and I'm excited to make that visit. I'm also looking at taking visits this spring to Iowa, Rutgers and Cincinnati over the next few months. I might also add another visit or two if I feel I need to see a few more schools in person.

“I'm still planning to make a college decision sometime in May, so the visits I make this spring will be important for me,” he said. “I'll get out to see everyone in person before I make my decision.”

Has Hill started to get any pressure from college coaches to make an early decision?

“Honestly it hasn't been too much so far,” he said. “The coaches have been really good about letting me know how many offers they have in this class for my position and how many kids they plan to take. I've already lost an offer or two because schools have already gotten commitments, and that's fine with me.”

Vala’s stock rising at Downers North

Downers Grove North junior tight end/edge Will Vala (6-foot-3, 220 pounds) has seen his recruiting stock rise this winter. He landed several new scholarship offers in January.

“My first offer came from Illinois State,” he said. “They had been recruiting me and showing interest for some time before they offered a scholarship. I also have offers now from Ball State, Lindenwood, North Dakota and Old Dominion so far. This week I also added differs from Central Michigan, Arkansas State and Eastern Michigan.

“We also saw several college coaches in school in January including the coaches from Indiana, Purdue, Toledo and Western Michigan. Several of those schools all want me to visit them this spring for a spring practice. I'm planning to get out to visit some schools this spring for sure and I made visits last month to both Indiana and also Toledo for Junior Day events.”

Does he have a dream school?

“I'm not sure I really have one, but I did recently visit Indiana and I really liked it there for a Junior Day visit.”

Palatine’s Downer adds Ball State offer

Palatine junior two-star offensive guard Evan Downer (6-foot-4, 280 pounds) recently added an offer from Ball State.

“I talked over the phone with the Ball State offensive line coach (Alex Barr) and they really liked my junior tape,” Downer said. “I'm one of the top guys for them on the recruiting board according to the Ball State coaches, which is exciting.”

Downer, who is playing basketball this winter for the Pirates, filled us in on his upcoming spring plans.

“I'm planning to go and make a visit to Ball State for spring practice,” he said. “I'm also looking at Cincinnati for a spring practice and I'm also planning to make an official visit to Cincinnati later in the spring. I'm sure I'll also add a few more spring visits soon and I'll need to schedule the visits around my track season this spring.”

A big key for Downer has been adding more good size and muscle since the end of the football season.

“I'm up to 285 pounds now and I've been able to make a lot of gains this winter,” he said. “So far I'm able to maintain that weight and my goal is to stay at this weight and also get stronger and faster. I want to keep making progress in my overall game and to have a strong and healthy season next fall.”

Downer holds scholarship offers from Akron, Ball State, Cincinnati, Marshall. Miami of Ohio, NIU, Toledo and Illinois State.