Illini Get Another Florida 2021 Commit With 3-Star DB Demond 'DD' Snyder
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. -- In just over a two-month period, Illinois football has gone from just one verbal commitment in the 2021 class to 11 verbal pledges.
The recruiting momentum of the Fighting Illini in the state of Florida continued Monday with the verbal pledge of three-star 2021 prospect Demond “DD” Snyder from Tampa Catholic High School. Snyder announced his commitment live via Instagram from the Tampa Catholic gymnasium.
2021 three-star 2021 prospect Demond “DD” Snyder announces his verbal commitment to Illinois via Instagram Live on July 6.
Snyder, who was primarily recruited by Tampa native and Illini cornerbacks coach Keynodo Hudson, selected Illinois over scholarship offers from UCF, Indiana, Louisville, North Carolina State and Duke.
Snyder becomes the seventh Florida prospect of the Illini’s 11 verbal commitment of the 2021 recruiting class joining three-star safety prospect Joriell Washington from Fort Myers, three-star Daytona Beach athlete Theodore Lockley, three-star wide receiver Patrick Bryant, three-star defensive back Daniel Edwards, three-star linebackers Trevor Moffitt and Dylan Rosiek.
The Illini coaching staff, led by head coach and defensive coordinator Lovie Smith, have addressed the future depth of its defensive backfield in bulk during this coronavirus pandemic by getting verbal commitments from Sndyer, Edwards, Washington and Georgia product Prince Green all while everything permitted in recruiting has been nothing more than a Zoom video meeting and phone call. None of those three prospects from the southeast portion of the nation have even seen the University of Illinois campus.
With Illinois knowing they are going to lose four scholarship defensive backs to graduation (Tony Adams, Nate Hobbs, Kendall Smith and Nick Walker), Smith’s staff has done an excellent job of restocking the talent and speed in that positional group with Florida and Georgia products that were overlooked by the Power Five Conference schools in their home area. Snyder becomes just another example of the Illini finding an under-recruited 6-foot, 175-pound prospect that impresses with his speed at a nationally recognized high school program.
Snyder’s older brother (T.J. Harrell) played in the Big Ten at Michigan State from 2015-18 and the idea is Snyder has the speed to handle receivers in Power Five Conference football.