Worth the wait: Fenwick’s Jack Paris commits to Illinois

Jack Paris sat inside the Champaign Country Club on Saturday night wondering whether his prayers would finally be answered.

Paris had pondered that for most of the weekend. He and his family traveled down to Champaign to visit with the Illinois coaching staff for an official visit. Now they were out to dinner at the club when Illinois head coach Brett Bielema stood up and answered those prayers.

Illinois offered Paris a scholarship to play football.

It took a moment for Paris to process what had just happened. But once he did, Paris sprung into action.

“I stood up, shook him in the hand and I told him that I’m committed to play,” Paris, a Fenwick senior linebacker, said. “I’ve always wanted a program like this, with the culture they have, the coaches they have on staff, the energy and all that. I’ve always wanted a program like that.”

Paris committed to the Illinois staff Saturday night and officially announced his commitment over social media Monday.

The moment had been a lifetime in the making. Paris’ grandfather played Big Ten football at Northwestern. When he met with Fenwick coach Matt Battaglia about his goals a couple years ago, his No. 1 goal was to play Big Ten football.

But the road there didn’t come easy.

Paris earned plenty of Division I interest, but he didn’t have a Power Four offer heading into his senior season. He dedicated his offseason before his senior season to improving in every aspect of his game.

“I knew if I put in the work that I needed to in the offseason, I knew that it would have been a very successful senior year,” Paris said. “But that was all possible because of coach Battaglia and the rest of my team.”

The offseason work translated to success on the field. Paris finished with 91 tackles, 17.5 tackles for a loss, two sacks, two quarterback hits, three pass breakups, two forced fumbles. He even carried the ball in the playoffs and rushed for a touchdown.

Paris was named the CCL/ESCC White Defensive Player of the Year.

“It was super rewarding,” Paris said. “Obviously, we didn’t accomplish our goal [of winning a state championship], but looking back at it, it was super rewarding just playing with all the guys and at Fenwick.”

Illinois took note of Paris’ growth on and off the field. On top of the impressive statistics he put up, Paris grew physically to a 6-foot-3, 215-pound frame.

He first met with Illinois coaches during a gameday visit in the fall. Illinois coaches told Paris to be patient after his senior season and Paris didn’t sign during the early signing period.

After the Illini coaches did their homework over the past few months, Paris finally got a chance to realize his dream.

“He never wavered in that dream at all,” Battaglia said. “And while no one jumped in super early on him, he kept working and he kept working to really make a name for himself and get the attention of a great team like Illinois and their great staff really saw something in him.”

247Sports lists Paris as a three-star linebacker while Rivals ranks him as a two-star prospect. Paris is a late addition for the Illini after they won 10 games in a season for the first time since 2001. The regular national signing period is set to open Wednesday.

“I’ve always wanted a program like this, with the culture they have, the coaches they have on staff, the energy and all that. I’ve always wanted a program like that.”

—  Jack Paris, Fenwick senior

Battaglia relied on Paris’ physical talents and leadership skills for much of his time with the Friars. He doesn’t doubt that’ll translate to the Big Ten.

“The type of player Jack is translates to any level of football at any time in history,” Battaglia said. “He’s an old-school throwback. He’s not afraid of contact. He wants to run down the hill, hit people, be physical, just that style of football that is getting tougher and tougher to find guys like that. But Jack would fit in l with his mentality and he just needs to keep working.”

Paris will get to work in the offseason when joins the Illini in the summer. In the meantime, he’s giving himself 24 hours to celebrate that his prayers have finally been answered.

“I’m super excited,” Paris said. “I mean, I don’t even really know what to say. It’s a huge deal. I’ve been working for this for a very long time and it’s very exciting.”