2021 Illinois QB One To Watch

Athan Kaliakmanis‍ has only played one season of high school football so far, but for Syracuse and Virginia Tech, that’s enough as both programs recently extended offers to the 2021 Illinois quarterback.

“It’s a very exciting experience, especially at this age,” the 6-foot-4, 190-pounder said. “It’s truly a blessing and especially from two schools like that. I can’t thank God enough.”

After playing his freshman season at Carmel Catholic, Kaliakmanis and his brother Dino, a 2021 wide receiver prospect, transferred to Antioch Community High School.

“It just wasn’t a fit for me and my family, so we just decided to come to Antioch over winter break,” Kaliakmanis explained.

In addition to the early offers, Kaliakmanis has received preliminary interest from other top programs.

“It’s tough with communication, but Northwestern, Notre Dame, Penn State, schools like that have all said they like my poise in the pocket and think I’m a good player,” he said.

Notre Dame stopped by to check in on him during the contact period.

“They didn’t really say much,” the 2021 prospect said. “They just said they wanted to see me throw more and based on that, they’re going to see what they think of me and stuff.”

Kaliakmanis said he “of course” he would be willing to camp in South Bend this summer.

“Notre Dame has always been one of my dream schools and I’m definitely going to go down there,” he said.

“It’s a great academic school. If I were to graduate from there even if I didn’t go pro, I’d definitely be successful no matter what. I have good friends who go there like Micah Jones. He’s always been a person I looked up to.”

Kaliakmanis, who is also looking at visits to Syracuse, Virginia Tech and Northwestern, is working hard to improve physically and mentally.

“Just getting bigger and getting smarter are definitely things I need to be working on in the weight room and film room,” he said.

With so much time before he needs to make a decision, Kaliakmanis hasn’t given it much thought yet.

“Honestly, right now, I’m not thinking about that,” he said. “I’ve still got a long time to think about that, but obviously the coaching staff, the academics of course and what kind of player they need.”

He would love to continue playing with his brother at the next level.

“Without him, I would not be where I am today,” he acknowledged. “He’s an outstanding receiver. It’s probably unlikely we’ll go to the same school, but it would be awesome. We have some of the same dream schools and if we went there, it would be amazing.”