Welcome in to the online choir podcast. It is Jeremy Warner, Joy Wagner, and Ryan Easterling from an undisclosed location that you can tell us about here in a moment.

But happy signing day, everybody.

We are in a different location this year because Illinois does not have its press conference.

I got to say, I feel incomplete, Joy Wagner, without our annual Marianne's diner.

But we were up before 6 o'clock, before the national letters of intent.

Actually, no, they're what?

The financial aid agreements that are now signed with the NLIs now gone.

But a big recruiting class for Illinois, we've got 20 nationals letters of intent.

I said that again, even though it's not.

Grant of AIDS in so far, Joey, 20 prospects joining this class. But how's your signing

day going so far, Joey? I really miss the diner stack this morning. We're going to make it through.

Definitely miss that tradition, but we'll, I might still go. I might go tomorrow morning before

Brett Bilema's press conference. But it, you know, I was thinking we'll get into this in a second, Jeremy, but it's kind of cool to see all of this happen. Like I remember watching Braden Trimble at one of the seven-on-seven camps. And to see from that moment, without an offer, he's catching everything under the sun, to him going to a state championship game. And now, Simon, he can go down the list, right? you've been talking to Andre LeVette for a decade at this point, right?

And now to see him sign it's just it's a cool moment

when you get to know these kids from their sophomores in some cases junior senior season's on

all the way to now it's honestly my favorite part of covering recruiting is we get to know these kids as

people and we get to watch

their journeys and get to watch them become the men that they are like Isaiah Williams or Nathan

Shieldhouse back there, Nick Al Goretti, like we've gone through all of that along with them and

got to tell their stories. And Pat Bryant is a great example of that. Visit him in Florida

before he signed with Illinois. And then he signed without a coach. And now to see what he's become has been awesome. So it's one of the things I like covering recruiting the most is because you get to know these kids as people, and hopefully we can tell you a little bit about them today on the signing day special. But Ryan Easterling, you are not in Illinois. I can tell that. How are you, buddy?

No, I'm just finishing out breakfast. I'm out in Kauai right now. So thank God for you guys and being there when those first few letters came in because I was not about to wake up at 2 a.m. to start tweeting stuff out. The jet lag was not that bad because I've only been jet lagged once in my life and it was out in Maui, but I didn't mind it because I was out in Maui.

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