Belleville West star announces his choice for college football
Keeping a Hitchcockian air of suspense right to the end, Nick Hankins Jr. put on and took off a couple of baseball caps with college logos on them Thursday night, keeping the crowd that came to Belleville West High School guessing as to his choice of where to play football this fall.
Not until the 4-star defensive prospect took off a dark hoodie would the choice be revealed by the school’s navy blue and orange colors: The University of Illinois.
Hankins, 18, chose the Fighting Illini over finalist Missouri, not to mention the 24 other Division 1 football programs that made him full offers.
While being mobbed by teammates from his Maroons football and basketball squads, his father, Nick Sr., stood to the side in fresh Illini gear and was asked the biggest reason his son chose to stay in-state.
“Family,” Hankins Sr. said. “What I mean by family is, over the last 10 months they embraced us like family. They got to know everybody in our family. We felt like it was home. If we walked in the front door of Illinois right now, we’d feel like it was home.”
Hankins Jr., a 6-foot-2, 190-pound cornerback who can also play safety, graduated from Belleville West this spring. He said his official visit to Champaign earlier this month cinched the deal. He was still slated to visit the University of Tennessee a week later, but canceled it and hid his decision from everybody but close family until an announcement on Juneteenth.
“It was hard at times. You’ve got coaches calling on your phone every day,” Hankins Jr. said. “But I just kind of knew right after my visit at Illinois that it was the right choice for me.”
Another clincher as to why Hankins Jr. chose the Fighting Illini: The good chance to start right away this fall as a freshman in coach Bret Bielema’s program.
“That was a real big reason,” said Hankins Jr., rated in 2025 as the 28th best cornerback in the country and a top-10 overall prospect in Illinois. “I feel like I’ll have a good chance to come in right away and contribute.”
Right before announcing his decision to a crowded auditorium, Hankins Jr. held a brief, quiet conversation with Bielema away from the microphones. However, some of what Bielema said could be heard.
“I’m not in an environment (a dance class) where I can scream, but I’m happy, man,” Bielema said over a speaker.
For proud dad, Hankins Sr. seemed relieved that the whole recruiting process was over.
“When the recruitment first started, he was excited. But by the time basketball season came around, it got to be stressful, playing two basketball games every week, traveling every weekend,” Hankins Sr. said. “If I had to describe it, I’d say there was every emotion possible. We had happy days, stressful days, we had angry days, we had sad days. But he feels great about his choice and so do I and the rest of our family.”
Hankins Sr., who has worked at Union Pacific Railroad since 2005, said he knew early that his son “had a passion for the game of football.”
“When high school started, I knew he could do this,” he said. “But the grind was one day at a time. I really didn’t think this far. It was just one day at a time, and now we’re here.”
Said Belleville West principal, Malcolm Hill, of Hankins Jr.: “He is exactly what we want Belleville West to be all about. He was the true definition of a student-athlete. He got good grades and was always working hard. I didn’t see him all that much in school, and that’s a good thing. He didn’t get involved in any nonsense, and that’s a tribute to him and his family.”
This story was originally published June 19, 2025 at 8:32 PM.
