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The University of Illinois has extended an offer to Santa Ana (Ca.) Mater Dei linebacker Solomon Tuliaupupu. He announced the Illini offer through his Twitter account on Thursday evening.

Blessed to receive an offer from the University of Illinois #FightingIllini #TheOrginalLBU ?? pic.twitter.com/pbKkRaoEmE — Solomon Tuliaupupu (@nokeakua) September 22, 2017

Tuliaupupu received his official U.S. Army All-American Bowl jersey on Thursday in a presentation in front of the entire Mater Dei football program. His teammates Amon-Ra St. Brown and Chris Murray were also honored as All-Americans during the ceremony.

Illinois has been extremely picky when it comes to recruiting linebackers during the 2018 cycle. The staff would love to add a player of Tuliaupupu’s caliber. He has the versatility to play either inside or outside linebacker.

The offer shows that once again Lovie Smith and his staff are not afraid to compete with big name programs for a player they really like. It would appear that it is a longshot for Illinois to land him but do not sleep on the Illini recruiting staff.

Illinois has the ability to offer immediate playing time. Last week against USF, 10 true freshman started which was a new school record.

247Sports has Tuliaupupu ranked as the No. 2 inside linebacker in the nation and the No.32 overall prospect in the class of 2018.

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