El Paso-Gridley punter Declan Duley commits to play college football at Illinois

Declan Duley will be wearing orange and blue next season.

The El Paso-Gridley senior gave his verbal commitment to Illinois on Wednesday, posting one word on his social media: "Committed."

Duley is the state's top-ranked punter in the Class of 2023 and No. 12 nationally by Kohl's.

He received an official scholarship offer on Sunday following Saturday's official visit to Champaign. There he saw the Fighting Illini beat Virginia, 24-3. Duley also had a scholarship offer from Troy.

In March, the 6-foot-2, 200-pound lefty had made an unofficial visit to Illinois. His entire perception of the program changed following meeting head coach Bret Bielema as well as touring the football facilities. Duley says he was "amazed" about what the Illini brought to the table.

“I’ll be honest, Illinois, they weren’t really kind of a school I was too excited about at first,” Duley said told the Journal Star in March, “but then after taking that visit, seeing all what they’re about, seeing what Coach Bielema's doing with that program and for that program, they really bumped up high on the list.”

Read more:How this El Paso-Gridley football player became the nation's top college punting prospect

El Paso-Gridley is 3-0 heading to Friday's Heart of Illinois Conference-Large Division game with Deer Creek-Mackinaw (0-3). The Titans are coming off a 14-13 win over Gibson City-Melvin-Sibley — the first over the Falcons since 2016.

Duley kicked a pair of extra points in the victory.

Adam Duvall is a Journal Star sports reporter. Email him at aduvall@pjstar.com. Follow him on Twitter @AdamDuvall.

This article originally appeared on Journal Star: College football recruits: El Paso-Gridley punter commits to Illinois