Devon Witherspoon: The Illini Dream

Illini’s Devon Witherspoon will be living out his dream

The 2023 NFL draft is in about 2 months. Typically, Illinois fans are all focused on what the Chicago Bears or whichever pro team they root for will do. On a good year, Illini nation will hear about one to two players that are drafted in the later rounds or possibly hear about which training camp roster they will vie for. Recently, there have been some outstanding stories. Kerby Joseph went from a 6th-string wide receiver to a top-100 pick that started on a competent Detroit Lions team. Joseph continued his highlight reel after intercepting Aaron Rodgers a plethora of times. Ted Karras is a starting center for the super-bowl contending Cincinnati Bengals. Nick Allegretti has played important snaps on a team that won the Super Bowl.

However, there is one likely situation that the Illini nation is not familiar with.

It has been rumored recently that Devon Witherspoon will be a top-10 pick. Throughout the season, Witherspoon was rumored to be a top-round pick given that he was deemed one of, if not the, best corner in the country. However, if Witherspoon does go in the top 10, he would be the highest pick since Kevin Hardy and Simeon Rice. Both of whom went second and third overall respectively. Since that draft in 1996, Illinois has had four first-round draft picks. Those players are Vontae Davis, Corey Liuget, AJ Jenkins, and Whitney Mercilus. Regardless of the history, this is such an incredible story for Devon Witherspoon.

From JUCO to the first round

Devon Witherspoon did not even play football until his Junior year of high school. In fact, he was headed to Hutchinson Community College until his SAT score allowed him to enroll at the University of Illinois. According to 247, Witherspoon committed to the Illini on July 29th.  In summary, Witherspoon ended up enrolling at Illinois during the latter portion of the summer. The guy was 160 pounds. He ended up finding his way on the field given his competitive nature and aggressive mindset. In fact, one of the first memories I have of him was that game-saving tackle against Wisconsin in 2019. Witherspoon always seemed to give an all-out effort. Something that was so rare during the Lovie Smith era. He was a true bright spot during that tenure and became a sure-fire top prospect under Bret Bielema and some random coordinator who is now the head coach of Purdue.

There is no doubt that Devon Witherspoon will be used as an attestation to what Illinois and Bret Bielema can help a young man achieve. From nearly spending a freshman year at JUCO to a top 10 NFL prospect shows that you can come to Illinois to develop. Though it pains me to give credit to Lovie Smith and his staff for being the ones to find Devon Witherspoon, Bret Bielema and his staff deserve a lot of credit for finalizing the product. No matter what NFL team drafts Devon Witherspoon, the Illini nation will never forget him.