College football signing day is upon us, and The Daily Illini sports staff is here to keep you in the know all day Wednesday. Check back throughout the day as we update you on who's making the commitment to join the Orange and Blue.

12:30

So far 20 letters have been sent in. Two recruits signed today after not previously committing, those were receiver Darius Millines and defensive end Brandon Denmark, both from Florida, both three stars. Millines is the No. 62-rated receiver on rivals.

I guess the Illini will have a lot of players trying to prove their stars wrong, as Walt Aikens did last year and Jeff Allen did the year before. It's difficult to remember that the Illini still have a pretty talented group, but a lack of wins and possibly the changing of coaches had a huge affect on recruiting. The Illini lost two of their top oral commitments, in tight end C.J. Fiedorowicz and defensive back Corey Cooper, which obviously hampered the 2010 class.

That's all for now, we'll update you if there are any late signings, also look for articles on Cooper, the quarterbacks and Zooks press conference later on.

10:38 a.m. Rivals.com has Illinois' current recruiting class ranked eighth in the Big Ten, and unless there's a real surprise, that won't change. The Illini have one four-star signee and 10 three-stars. In comparison, Penn State leads the conference with 12 four-star recruits. Then again, stars don't matter as much once players hit the field. These Zook recruits don't have the hype his last few classes did, but those classes didn't pan out on the field as well as Illini fans hoped.

10:11 a.m. Three-star linebacker Mark Wilson of Tallahassee, Fla., has sent in his letter. He's 6-foot-2, 225 pounds and, according to rivals.com, runs a 4.6 40.

9:35 a.m. The letters of intent have begun to slow down from the sounds of it, but the football team said it still expects a few more to roll in at some point. We will provide details on what played into Cooper's decision to join the Cornhuskers later. There no saying for sure what role Cooper would have played next year at Illinois or how much action he would see on the field, but he could have helped a secondary that struggled last season and is losing starter Dere Hicks at corner.

9:13 a.m. Cooper, the four-star defensive back from Proviso East HS in Maywood, Ill., has signed with Nebraska. This was kind of expected but it's still a tough pill to swallow for Illini fans.

8:55 a.m.

Louisiana native Alex Hill has also officially signed. He's a three-star offensive lineman. The Cooper announcement should be coming any minute now.

8:50 a.m.

Jonathan Brown and Earnest Thomas are officially Illini. Brown is a 6-foot-1, 225-pound linebacker from Memphis, while Thomas is a 6-foot-2 defensive back from Orchard Lake, Mich.

8:40 a.m.

We missed updating you on a few commits who sent in letters earlier this morning. By now, the UI athletic department's live blog of the day has reported that Jake Howe of McHenry, Ill., has sent in his letter of intent. He's listed as a two-star running back on rivals.com.

8:15 am Ean Days of Georgia, Jay Prosch of Alabama, Miles Osei of Mt. Prospect, IL have signed. Darius Millines looks to be the first surprise of the day, he is a three-star receiver from Florida.

These signings are, of course, in addition to early enrollees QB Chandler Whitmer, DB Trulon Henry and OG Shawn Afryl.

This class really has no stars, unless you count Whitmer, who said he'll be fighting for the starting job this fall. Osei also comes in after committing early to NIU. Look for him to possibly on the fringe of a four-man battle at QB this fall.

8 a.m.

So far there aren't any surprises. Tight end Evan Wilson of Georgia, receiver Anthony Williams from Virginia, offensive tackle Simon Cvijanovic from Cleveland, receiver Ryan Lankford from Florida, offensive tackle Michael Heitz from Vermont, Ill., Spencer Harris, a receiver from Arkansas, and defensive end Austin Teitsma of Glen Ellyn, Ill.

Nothing to write home about yet. Four-star safety (according to rivals.com) Corey Cooper will be announcing his signing at 9 a.m., and our Jay Lee is at Proviso East High School so we'll have the news for you as soon as it happens.