A lot of time has passed since Illinois last received a commitment from a member of the 2020 class. In fact, it’s been over a month since the Illini last added to this group.

This week, though, Illinois received a nice boost from a big-bodied offensive lineman out of North Carolina. Jeremy Werner of Illini Inquirer reported that three-star tackle Phifer Griffin gave his verbal pledge to Lovie Smith and company a few days ago.

Phifer, a 6-foot-6, 290-pound lineman, is the fourth player to commit to Illinois’ 2020 class. He’s the first offensive lineman to join the class.

According to 247Sports, Phifer cracks the top 800 players in the 2020 class and is the No. 25 ranked prospect out of North Carolina. He’s listed inside the 70 best offensive tackles of the cycle.

Phifer did have nearly a dozen offers, including Air Force, West Virginia and East Carolina, among others.

It’s been a bit of a slow road on the recruiting trail for Illinois during the 2020 cycle. The Illini currently sit last in the B1G in the recruiting rankings and are No. 99 nationally. There’s still plenty of time to pick up the slack.