Football notebook: Marquise Lightfoot makes visits, Andre Crews reclassifies, Loyola hires Desherow

Like most kids, Marquise Lightfoot tried out about every sport: baseball, swimming, basketball.

But when the Kenwood junior started playing football as an 8-year-old, something clicked.

“That’s when I grew to love it because it matched who I am,” Lightfoot said. “I’ve always thought basketball was too soft of a sport. Football allowed me to be aggressive and be who I am.”

And that’s even more the case on defense. Always “the tallest guy on the team,” he played linebacker before sliding to edge. It suits his mindset: “I get to hit people and I get to stop people from doing whatever they like to do.”

Who he is, is one of the nation’s fastest rising recruits in his class. Long and athletic at 6-5 and 215 pounds, Lightfoot is a four-star prospect who sits at No. 4 in Illinois’ junior class, No. 9 nationally among edge rushers and No. 106 overall in 247Sports’ composite rankings.

He has more than three dozen offers, including such college football blue bloods as two-time defending national champ Georgia, Alabama, Michigan, Notre Dame, Ohio State and Tennessee.

He’s proof that even in an age of college programs leaning hard on the transfer portal for recruiting, elite high school talent can still be seen and pursued.

It’s a busy time for Lightfoot, who recently visited Illinois and is targeting Michigan State, USC, Georgia, Michigan, Notre Dame and Oregon among others for upcoming campus trips.

The point of the hectic schedule is to get a feel for the top contenders for his services. He doesn’t plan to drag out the process.

“I wanted to be committed by the time the season starts,” he said. “I want to go into the season as a defensive end or edge at the university of whatever.”

Lightfoot is the latest in a series of Power Five prospects for the Broncos, who are one of the state’s rising programs. Two of the first were Lewis Bond and Dante Reynolds, who are now redshirt sophomores at Boston College. He appreciates the way they’ve supported him on his journey.

“I got my first offer their senior night, so they dropped everything, congratulating me,” Lightfoot said. “That was probably one of the biggest nights of my life.”

With his recruiting prospects, there figure to be even bigger ones coming soon.

Andre Crews reclassifies

Simeon running back Andre Crews, who piled up 2,385 total yards and 41 touchdowns last season en route to earning Public League Player of the Year honors, announced on Twitter he is reclassifying to the class of 2024.

The 5-9, 185-pounder plans to head to Taft School in Watertown, Conn., for a post-grad year. Crews had offers from Air Force and several FCS schools during the 2023 recruiting cycle.

Loyola hires Beau Desherow

Loyola stayed in the building to find a successor to John Holecek, who stepped down last fall after leading the Ramblers to three state titles, seven trips to the championship game and 185 wins in 17 seasons.

Provided

Taking over will be Beau Desherow, a 1993 Loyola grad who starred at linebacker on the 1992 state runner-up team and spent 16 seasons as an assistant coach at his alma mater. Desherow also has worked as an administrator at Loyola since 2004, most recently as vice president for admission and enrollment.

“This program means everything to me,” Desherow said in a statement. “I understand the history and tradition I’m stepping into, and I look forward to working with our outstanding student-athletes and coaching staff to write the next chapter.”