VIDEO PODCAST: Wednesdays With Wagner - Hosted By Matthew Stevens & Joey Wagner

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. -- In this latest edition of a weekly video podcast segment called "Wednesdays With Wagner", Illini Now/Sports Illustrated publisher Matthew Stevens and Decatur Herald-Review reporter Joey Wagner hit three topics involving Illinois sports.

The topics Stevens and Wagner hit on for this debut edition are:

Gov. Pritzker’s Phase 4 Reopening Plan Could Allow Illini Fans Inside Memorial Stadium: Stevens and Wagner detail how Governor J.B. Pritzker's plan to reopen the state of Illinois more by Friday is being interpreted to allow over 12,000 fans inside Memorial Stadium for the 2020 football season. Based on the new regulations for phase four of the "Restore Illinois" plan, athletics officials at University of Illinois are more than hopeful to have football fans in the stands.
Illini Football Recruiting 2021: Since May 1, Illinois football has seen its 2021 commits number rise into double digits. Stevens and Wagner give you the commits they like already in this class. Three-star Florida athlete Theodore Lockley pledged his services to Lovie Smith’s Illini program via an Instagram announcement Friday afternoon. The commitment of three-star safety Joriell Washington, who is from Fort Myers, Fla., came just hours after Lockley. Washington, a 6-foot-2 and 178-pound prospect according to 247Sports.com, picked Illinois over scholarship offers from Oregon, Iowa State, Boston College, South Florida, Southern Mississippi and Florida Atlantic.
Illini Football: Illinois linebacker Khalan Tolson met with local reporters over a Zoom video conference Tuesday afternoon. Tolson, a 6-foot and 220-pound who is expected to challenge for the open starting linebacker position on Smith's defense this season, played in 11 games with four starts at linebacker during the 2019 campaign. Tolson started those four games last season in place of the injured Butkus Award semifinalist Jake Hansen and finished with 38 tackles, 1.5 TFL, two PBUs, one fumble recovery, one quarterback hurry on the season.