2026 CB Nick Hankins Set To Check Out Notre Dame
Nick Hankins has had a busy month from a recruiting perspective.
This month alone, the 2026 Illinois cornerback has added offers from Tennessee, Boston College, Stanford, Iowa, Vanderbilt, Purdue and Iowa State to offers he already had from schools like Illinois, Michigan State, Missouri, Northwestern and Wisconsin among others.
“He's starting to pick up steam from a lot of schools,” his coach at Belleville West High School, Ken Turner tells Irish Sports Daily. “It's intriguing when a kid begins to pick up offers. It's intriguing what that kid has. I think right now it's a feeling-out process with everybody and seeing what we see him doing in the games and practice every day. It's just him trying to see if he matches what they like.
“He's a really good athlete and he's got good ball skills. He works hard and he's evolving every day as a player.”
Turner expects the 6-foot-1, 190-pounder to continue that evolution over the years.
“Just continue to get better at football,” Turner says of what’s next for Hankins. “He started at DB and receiver, so just the technical stuff that everybody works on; the footwork and just understanding coverages even better. Not to say that he doesn't, but it's just improving his overall game. Always being quicker, being faster, just evolving on things that the good ones do.”
Off the field, Hankins checks the boxes, according to his coach.
“Good student,” Turner says. “He's actually a workout warrior. He lifts weights a lot. He works out with the team and works out on his own. Strength is a big part of his game as far as in both sports he plays; he's a football and a basketball player. That's what he does.”
Hankins doesn’t have an offer from Notre Dame yet, but he’s scheduled to be in South Bend for the Irish’s Junior Day event this weekend.
Turner isn’t surprised that Notre Dame has caught Hankins’ attention.
“Most people are interested,” the coach said. “It's a historic place and they do great each and every year. Football's a key sport. It's a good place to visit for him.
“It's intriguing to want to know what a school like Notre Dame has to offer and what they're about, so it's intriguing for a lot of kids. He's just one that's interested in seeing the campus and seeing how things go.”
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