Riley Anderson Receives Offer From Illinois

After a one-day hiatus, Riley Anderson is back in the news.

Mineola's junior left tackle announced via Twitter that he received a college football scholarship opportunity from Illinois on Sunday. It's his 12th unique offer.

The Fighting Illini's invitation pushed Anderson (6-5, 288) back into a tie with twin brother Austin Anderson, who picked up an offer from Illinois Friday, in terms of sheer volume of offers.

The Andersons only stand behind Nacogdoches safety Brandon Jones' 34 offers within the 2016 East Texas recruiting class.

In addition to Illinois, both Andersons hold offers from Arkansas State, Cincinnati, Houston, Missouri, North Texas, Northwestern, Southern Miss, Texas State, Texas Tech and Tulsa.

This is Riley Anderson's second opportunity from a Big Ten Conference school. Northwestern beat Illinois to the punch with an offer Wednesday.

Illinois was a middle-of-the-road team last season. It made an appearance in the Zaxby's Heart of Dallas Bowl and fell to Louisiana Tech, 35-18, for a 6-7 final record.

The team did, however, defeat Texas State in non-conference play in addition to upsetting Minnesota and Penn State for signature conference wins.

Tim Beckman is the head coach of the program and has been in place since 2012. Illinois' win total has increased each season under the coach.

In the southern sphere of college football, Beckman is most notable for serving as Oklahoma State's defensive coordinator in 2007 and 2008. The first years the Cowboys really began to contend for Big 12 championships.

Beckman left Oklahoma State to become head coach at Toledo in 2009. He guided the Rockets to bowl games in his final two seasons.

Riley Anderson and Austin Anderson are the only East Texas players in the Class of 2016 with Illinois offers.

The left tackle earned second-team 2014 ETSN.fm Super Team accolades after helping Mineola to its first ever state championship game appearance last season. The Yellowjackets' coaching staff graded him out at 91 percent for the entire year and counted 96 pancakes in the 16-game season.

Mineola could emerge as a team ready to contend for the Class 3A Division I title for a second consecutive year. Its run-heavy offense returns the Anderson twins and all of the offensive backfield in addition to critical pieces of the secondary on defense.

All 2016 football prospect become eligible to sign with schools on Feb. 3, 2016.

2016 East Texas Football Players With Division I FBS Offers