Chicago Colleges Report

B.J. Bello commits to Illinois football

January, 29, 2012

1/29/12

3:15

PM CT

By Scott Powers | ESPNChicago.com

Lincoln-Way West senior linebacker/safety B.J. Bello committed to Illinois on Sunday.

Bello, who is 6-2 and 210 pounds, had been originally committed to Western Michigan. Illinois began showing him interest last week, and he visited the campus over the weekend. He had also been recently contacted by Boston College, Minnesota and Tennessee.

Illinois coach Tim Beckman had been recruiting Bello when he coached at Toledo.

“It definitely feels good,” Bello said of heading to the Big Ten. “I feel more confident. It’s definitely something I wanted to do. I definitely thought I could play in the Big Ten because I’ve been working hard.”

Illinois now has 18 Class of 2012 commitments.

Scott Powers | email

Reporter

Scott Powers is a general reporter for ESPNChicago.com. He is an award-winning journalist and has been reporting on preps, colleges and pros for publications throughout the Midwest since 1997.

Tags:

Illinois Fighting Illini, Football, Recruiting, Big Ten, Illinois Fighting Illini, B.J. Bello, Lincoln-Way West

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Scott Powers

Powers is an award-winning journalist and has been reporting on preps, colleges and pros for publications throughout the Midwest since 1997. He joined ESPNChicago in May 2009 and lives in Chicago.

Adam Rittenberg

Rittenberg joined ESPN.com in 2008 after four years at the Daily Herald, where he covered sports at Notre Dame, Northwestern, DePaul and several other colleges. He lives in Chicago and writes for the Big Ten blog.

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Bennett joined ESPN.com in August 2008 after nine years at The Courier-Journal in Louisville, Ky., where he covered college sports and the University of Louisville beat. He lives in Louisville and writes for the Big Ten blog.

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Fortuna joined ESPN.com in 2011 after working for MLB.com and the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, where he covered college sports. He grew up in New York and is a Penn State graduate. Fortuna's Notre Dame blog is here.

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