‘EdgyTim’: FCS programs nabbing commitments from local players

St. Francis rising senior wide receiver Dario Milivojevic (5-foot-11, 175 pounds) recently gave Southern Illinois University his verbal commitment.

“I really started looking hard at everything this summer and I’ve decided to give SIU my commitment,” Milivojevic said. “I made a visit to SIU a few weeks ago and the visit along with everything that SIU has to offer was a great fit for me so I committed.

“SIU has some great coaches along with a lot of great people inside the football program,” he said. “I get along really well with SIU receivers coach Zach Grant along with my recruiting coach Dan Clark and also head coach Nick Hill. The facilities at SIU are really nice and everything seems to be pretty new. I was on campus when the freshmen reported to camp, so I was able to see how SIU does things and how they welcomed the new players. I had a chance to talk with a lot of those kids along with some of the players on the team on the visit. SIU has a great family vibe in the football program and they also feel I’ll be a great fit in it’s offense.”

Milivojevic considered other colleges before pledging to SIU.

“I was in pretty regular contact with the coaches from Western Kentucky along with Sacramento State and Butler,” he said. “I was also hearing from several bigger level schools but all of those schools wanted to see me in a camp this summer.”

Maine South rising senior defensive back Santino Bernabei (6-foot-1, 185 pounds) announced earlier this week that he gave Illinois State University his verbal commitment.

“Illinois State is offering me a really great opportunity,” Bernabei said. “The overall combination of a great football program, academics and a great culture just made it the best fit for me so I committed.

“I had offers from St. Thomas, Western Illinois along with UIndy (Division II) and also Minnesota State (Division II). I also camped at North Central College along with UIndy plus Illinois State. Illinois State for me just offers pretty much everything I was looking for in a school and I did not want to miss out on an opportunity at Illinois State so I committed.”

Illinois State remained busy this past week, landing another in-state commitment in Naperville North rising senior tight end Finn Bretag (6-foot-3, 225 pounds).

“It really just came down to both a belief that the Illinois State coaches have in me along with the overall fit,” Bretag said. “Illinois State just feels like the best place for me so I committed.

“The coaches at Illinois State really stand out to me. They just have always had a plan for me at Illinois State and they just believe in me as a player and also as a person. Illinois State is a pretty special place. They offer a great education, they play in a great conference in FCS (Missouri Valley) and you will play against great players and programs literally every week.”