Bret Bielema has landed his first commitment since taking over as the head coach at Illinois.

On Tuesday, the Fighting Illini received a pledge from 3-star running back Joshua McCray, a 6-foot-1, 207-pound prospect out of Enterprise, Alabama. He’s the first player in the 2021 class to commit to the program since Bielema was hired last month.

McCray made his announcement with a post on social media. The decision comes a month before National Signing Day for the 2021 recruiting class.

McCray is ranked as the No. 100 running back prospect in the 2021 recruiting class and comes in as the No. 71 player out of Alabama. He received seven offers on the recruiting trail, all from Power 5 programs.

In addition to Illinois, McCray received offers from Arkansas, Kentucky, Ole Miss, South Carolina, Tennessee and Washington State.

The Illini’s 2021 recruiting class is fairly small, due partly to the coaching change. However, Lovie Smith didn’t build a big class during his latest season with the program, so Bielema has his work cut out for him on the recruiting front.

Illinois is now up to 15 pledges in 2021 class. It ranks 76th nationally and is last in the B1G.