Four-star 2026 DB Victor Singleton decommits from Illinois, flips to Texas A&M

Four-star Class of 2026 cornerback Victor Singleton has flipped his commitment from Illinois to Texas A&M, he told On3Sports. The Toledo (Ohio) Central Catholic prospect originally committed to Illinois in February over Michigan, Ohio State, Oregon and Texas A&M.

247Sports ranks Singleton the No. 57 overall prospect in the Class of 2026 and the No. 5 cornerback prospect in the class.

Illinois defensive backs coach Corey Parker led the Illini's pursuit of Singleton. Two years ago while at Toledo, Parker was the first coach to offer Singleton a scholarship.

Singleton had just visited the UI campus with his family earlier this week.

Why it matters: Singleton was Illinois football's highest-ranked commitment in the Class of 2026 and had been the highest-rated prep prospect to commit to Illinois under Bret Bielema. Illinois now has one four-star Composite prospect committed in the class: Ohio linebacker Cam Thomas. With Singleton's defection, the Illini's class fell from No. 7 in the Composite team recruiting rankings to No. 10.

What it means: The Illini's recruiting ranking took a hit, but that's not the most important thing. Illinois just lost a very talented player who could've made a very early impact at a position where Illinois will lose two starters next season: Xavier Scott and Torrie Cox Jr. Illinois has a lot of talented young pieces, but Singleton is another level of prospect whom Parker had recruited as well as anyone and Illinois had enticed with its great NFL defensive back development. But landing big fish means you have to keep that big fish on the line and get him into the boat before other big fish can snag them away. Texas A&M is an SEC program with deep financial resources, and they just snagged away the Illini's highest-ceiling prospect so far in the Class of 2026.

The Illini still have talented young players at defensive back, including Tanner Heckel, Vernon Woodward III, Amar Reynolds, Tywan Cox, Xanai Scott and RJ Jones, and Illinois just earned a commitment from three-star Florida cornerback Almirian Thomas. The Illini also are pursuing several three-star cornerbacks in the class, including Nick Hankins, AJ Marks and Leonzay Merzius, among others.

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