Illinois continued its offseason momentum  by securing a commitment from Alabama transfer DB Eddie Smith on Thursday morning.

Smith announced that decision on Twitter:

https://twitter.com/_15ive/status/1352271070590607361

Smith spent three seasons at Alabama, appearing in a handful of games. He was mostly a special teams contributor for the Crimson Tide.

As a recruit, Smith was the No. 435 overall player in the class of 2018, according to 247Sports Composite rankings. The same service ranked him as the No. 42 overall cornerback in that class.

He hails from Slidell, Louisiana, and attended Salmen High School.

New Illinois defensive coordinator Ryan Walters seemed to acknowledge Smith’s commitment on Thursday morning:

Smith will be amongst those tasked with improving an Illinois defense that finished No. 13 in the Big Ten last year in scoring defense (34.9 points per game).

New Illinois coach Bret Bielema is off to a good start in his new job. In addition to convincing Owen Carney to stay, Bielema has done an excellent job of filling out his coaching staff.