Will Vala grew up playing hockey, baseball and basketball. The rising senior at Downers Grove North still hoops when he can. \u201cI play pickup all the time,\u201d Vala said. \u201cI still love it.\u201d But he\u2019s given up playing his other sports competitively because his future is on the football field.<\/p>\n
The 6-3, 225-pound tight end is the latest addition to Illinois coach Bret Bielema\u2019s 2026 class. He\u2019s the consensus No. 24 player in Illinois and the No. 51 tight end nationally. The Illini now have commitments from seven of the state\u2019s top 25 players in the 247Sports composite rankings. That\u2019s a big deal for Vala. "[With] coach Bielema leading that program, it\u2019s been on the rise the last couple years,\u201d he said. \u201cJust seeing the family he\u2019s built and especially recruiting in-state guys, I really felt it was the best fit.\u201d<\/p>\n
Vala\u2019s parents didn\u2019t want him playing football when he was younger because of the injury risk. He was set to start in his seventh-grade year, but that was when COVID shut down all youth sports. He finally started his career in eighth grade as a backup tight end and middle linebacker. At Downers Grove North, he was called up to the varsity for the playoffs as a freshman and then was moved up to varsity again for the final regular-season games of his sophomore year. \u201cIt was definitely intimidating first time up on varsity,\u201d he said. \u201cVarsity is a different speed. I learned that very quick.\u201d<\/p>\n
But Vala adapted quickly and college offers started coming in. Illinois State was first, followed by almost 20 from Group of Five schools. Illinois was his first Power Four offer, followed by Purdue, Indiana, Wisconsin, Kentucky and Louisville, among others. National recruiting analyst Clint Cosgrove believes Vala and Illinois are a perfect match. \u201cHe fits their scheme perfectly,\u201d Cosgrove said. "… He\u2019s a Bielema guy.\u201d Vala\u2019s versatility will play well at the next level, according to Cosgrove. \u201cHe can stretch the field, and you [will] see him come across the line and wham somebody,\u201d Cosgrove said. \u201cHis ball skills are really good. The more I watched him, the more I liked him. He\u2019s got a chance to be pretty good.\u201d<\/p>\n
So does Downers North, which has an elite pass-and-catch duo in Minnesota-bound quarterback Owen Lansu and Vala, The Trojans advanced to the Class 7A final two years ago, losing to Mount Carmel, before losing to Batavia in the 7A quarterfinals last season. \u201cWe play Morgan Park Week 1, so I\u2019ll be playing against Nasir [Rankin, a fellow Illinois recruit],\u201d Vala said. \u201cThat will be a fun one. We\u2019ve got seven or eight offensive starters and the quarterback coming back. We\u2019ve got to fill some spots defensively.\u201d Now, Vala can focus on his last high school season, having settled his future earlier than planned. \u201cI wanted to be committed mid-June to late June,\u201d he said. \u201cI really just felt like \u2014 Illinois, it couldn\u2019t get better than that.\u201d<\/p>\n
Will Vala’s commitment to Illinois is a significant addition to the team’s 2026 class. With his versatility and skills, he is expected to make a positive impact on the field. As he prepares for his last high school season, Vala can focus on his game, knowing that his future is secure.<\/p>\n
Q: What position does Will Vala play?
\nA: Will Vala plays as a tight end.
\nQ: Which college has Vala committed to?
\nA: Vala has committed to the University of Illinois.
\nQ: What is Vala’s ranking in the state of Illinois?
\nA: Vala is ranked as the No. 24 player in Illinois.
\nQ: Who is Vala’s quarterback at Downers Grove North?
\nA: Vala’s quarterback is Owen Lansu, who is bound for Minnesota.
\nQ: Who is the coach of the University of Illinois football team?
\nA: The coach of the University of Illinois football team is Bret Bielema.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Introduction to Will Vala Will Vala grew up playing hockey, baseball and basketball. The rising senior at Downers Grove North still hoops when he can. \u201cI play pickup all the time,\u201d Vala said. \u201cI still love it.\u201d But he\u2019s given up playing his other sports competitively because his future is on the football field. Commitment […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":23077,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rank_math_lock_modified_date":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[25],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-23076","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-sports"},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/cst.brightspotcdn.com\/dims4\/default\/568b6bc\/2147483647\/strip\/true\/crop\/4210x2403+0+0\/resize\/1461x834!\/quality\/90\/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fchorus-production-cst-web.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com%2Fbrightspot%2F4d%2F64%2F7210016a47de9c61742720dcbdb2%2Fob-cst-100524-003.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/chicago\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23076"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/chicago\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/chicago\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/chicago\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/chicago\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=23076"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/chicago\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23076\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":23078,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/chicago\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23076\/revisions\/23078"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/chicago\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/23077"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/chicago\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=23076"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/chicago\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=23076"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/chicago\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=23076"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}