The news: Illinois on Tuesday landed a commitment from Miami transfer wide receiver Brian Hightower. The 6-foot-3, 210-pound rising junior has two years of eligibility remaining. Barring NCAA transfer reform, he must sit out the 2020 season before regaining eligibility for the 2021 season.

Background: Hightower was a four-star prospect in the Class of 2018, coming in at No. 154 in the composite rankings, and chose Miami over Alabama, Clemson and USC, among more than 30 scholarship offers. Hightower is a Leimert Park (Calif.) native who played his last two seasons of high school football at IMG Academy in Bradenton (Fla.). During two seasons at Miami, Hightower played in 18 games, hauling in 12 receptions for 148 yards and one touchdown. He missed some time in spring practice last year due to arthroscopic knee surgery.

How he fits the Illini: Hightower is a very significant multi-year addition for Illinois, which will lose its three projected 2020 starters to graduation: Josh Imatorbhebhe, Ricky Smalling and Trevon Sidney. The Illini have few proven options beyond those three.

Former walk-on Donny Navarro stepped up in a big way last season following season-ending injuries to Sidney and Smalling, so much so that he earned a scholarship. Illinois has added speedy slot threats in each of the last two classes with redshirt freshman Kyron Cumby and incoming top-500 wideout James Frenchie, who both could compete for reps next season. But the Illini's perimeter options are very unproven. Rising sophomore Casey Washington showed flashes but, like most freshmen, must improve his consistency. Rising sophomore Dalevon Campbell played mostly special teams in his five games last season before succumbing to a season-ending injury. Rising redshirt sophomore Edwin Carter caught two touchdown passes in a win over Western Illinois during the 2018 season, but that is the only game he has played at Illinois due to injuries. He missed all of last season.

Illinois already added multi-year graduate transfer Desmond Dan from New Mexico State to give the Illini an immediate depth boost. Hightower gives Illinois a significant talent boost. The former Hurricanes top recruit gives the Illini a more mature presence who should step right into a starting spot in 2021, assuming he cannot play in 2020, and he'd likely step into Imatorbhebhe's role as the Illini's go-to option on the perimeter. If he can play this season, Hightower could push Smalling, who has struggled in each of the past two seasons, for a starting spot or at least give Illinois far better depth than it did last season.

Scouting report: As a prep prospect, Hightower was dominant at Calabassas (Calif.) as a sophomore (71 receptions for 1,344 yards and 14 touchdowns) before transferring to prep powerhouse IMG Academy. During his junior season, he had 13 receptions for 366 yards and four touchdowns before hauling in 35 receptions for 455 yards and five touchdowns as a senior. Hightower looked every bit of a Top247 prospect in high school. He has NFL size with a long catch radius to win contested balls. He also has long speed (ran a 4.5-second 40-yard dash in high school). His big frame does give him great potential as a blocker too. At his size, he isn't the quickest laterally, and he obviously didn't show enough consistency to play as big of a role as expected in his first two years at Miami. So he likely must continue to refine the technical aspects of his game. But he has a high ceiling, similar to Imatorbhebhe. Like Imatorbhebhe, Hightower will get a bigger opportunity at Illinois.

Transfer U continues: While the Illini are off to a slow start in the Class of 2021 (just one commitment while every other Big Ten team has at least five), Illinois continues to bolster its short-term outlook via the transfer portal. After landing several impact transfers last season, Illinois has now added four transfers this offseason: Hightower, New Mexico State WR Desmond Dan, Wofford OL Blake Jeresaty and Wisconsin DE Christian Bell. The Illini still have two scholarships remaining and could look to add more depth to the defensive line and offensive line.