Trip Results In Schollie For Shiloh's Roberts

Shiloh Christian linebacker Mitchell Roberts and his parents' trip to Champaign, Ill., didn't get off to the best start, but it wrapped up with a bang in the form of a scholarship offer from the University of Illinois. "We were kind of lost when we got here and just kind of wandering around," said Roberts. "Finally, the defensive coordinator was jogging by and saw us." Roberts was quickly hooked up with Illinois assistant Joe Gilbert, who gave the family a tour of the facilities before he got a sit down with Fighting Illini coach Ron Zook. The meeting lasted about 45 minutes, but didn't go quite like Roberts had hoped as Zook didn't say anything about a scholarship to the school. Prior to the Friday visit, the 6-foot-3, 230-pounder was led to believe an offer would be forthcoming if he measured up. "They told me if I was really 6-3, then they'd give me a scholarship offer on the spot," Roberts said. "I guess they wanted to make sure I wasn't 5-11 or something." But the visit with Zook had come and gone with no scholarship offer in hand, leading Roberts to wonder if one would ever come from Illinois. That was until Gilbert gave Roberts an envelope that Gilbert said he was supposed to have received during the visit with Zook. "He said, 'You better put this in a safe place because it's worth a lot of money,'" Roberts said. The scholarship offer is Roberts second from a Division I school as the Fighting Illini join Tulsa in the race for the Class of 2010 linebacker. Roberts also is being recruited by Arkansas, Alabama, Auburn, Georgia Tech and Ole Miss, among others. In the past week or so, he said Nebraska and Indiana have called to express interest. Roberts played a key role in Shiloh Christian's perfect season and Class 4A state championship. Despite missing action early last fall due to an injury, Roberts has amassed 152 tackles, including 90 solo stops, in the past two seasons. The US Army All-American combine participant was the No. 2 linebacker in the state and No. 15 prospect overall in the VYPE-U Recruiting Issue that was released on March 1. The rankings will be updated on July 1 in VYPE's Football Preview.