Recruiting notes: IC Catholic defensive back Chauncey Lee commits to Eastern Illinois

Like an alert defensive back, Chauncey Lee waited for the recruiting calls to come his way during quarantine.

He jumped at the best opportunity.

Lee, an IC Catholic Prep senior, made his verbal commitment on Sunday to play collegiately at Eastern Illinois.

Eastern Illinois, which competes in the Division I Football Championship Subdivision, offered Lee June 9. It was two weeks after Northern State, and two weeks before Roosevelt University.

"I just had to stay patient, to be honest," Lee said. "I knew campuses were down, everything was down. I had to keep my head up and pray for the best. Eastern gave me that chance."

Lee, a multi-sport athlete who also excels on the basketball court, started at cornerback as a sophomore for 2018 Class 4A state champion IC Catholic. It was after his junior year that he said Eastern started recruiting him. He is recruited as a defensive back.

"They looked at me that I can play both safety and cornerback, just an overall DB," Lee said. "I feel safety can play corner and corner can play safety."

Lee liked Eastern's coaching staff, enjoyed talks with the defensive back coaches – and felt at home there.

He also didn't want to wait any longer to make a decision, with the opportunity to play Division I football on the table and the uncertainty of this high school season.

"I felt like, them being the only school giving me the higher chance to play on a different collegiate level, I felt like the time was now to decide," Lee said. "You never know with coronavirus, never know about the season. There's nothing guaranteed. Might as well make my stamp now."

Kyle Franklin delays decision

While Lee has firmed up his college plans, IC Catholic teammate Kyle Franklin decided to take a little more time.

Franklin, a senior running back, planned to announce his commitment this past Friday, but it's on hold for now.

Franklin, who ran for 1,504 yards and 27 touchdowns as a junior, has offers from Northern Iowa, Indiana State, Eastern Michigan, Central Michigan, Western Illinois and Fordham.

"I was going to commit last week but sitting down, having a talk with my parents, I thought maybe we need a little more time," Franklin said. "I needed a little more time to talk to my family and talk to other family members, get their opinions and formulate my thoughts."

Franklin hasn't been able to visit any campuses the last several months, but has been hosted on a few virtual visits.

"My main thing I'm looking for is the feeling of family," Franklin said. "I want the coaching staff to be invested in me not only as an athlete but as a person. Football doesn't just make me a better athlete, it makes me a better man."

Tyler Morris talking more to Notre Dame

Nazareth junior receiver Tyler Morris doesn't expect to make a college decision until next summer, but he already has plenty of suitors.

Of late, he's had more contact with Notre Dame.

The Fighting Irish offered Morris as a freshman, and have been in touch more with Morris over the last month.

"Notre Dame finished up with their 2021 class, they said that's the reason why they weren't talking much to 2022s," Morris said. "They started focusing more on their 2022s now."

Morris, the second-ranked junior in Illinois' Class of 2022 behind St. Rita's Kaleb Brown according to 247 Sports and the 11th-ranked receiver nationally, has 20 offers including Michigan, Penn State, Missouri and Northwestern. Arkansas is the most recent to offer him.

He's been talking lately to Notre Dame quarterback coach Tommy Rees and receivers coach Del Alexander.

"Talking about football and how they could use me, opportunities, been talking about life, not having a fall season, what I've been doing all this time," Morris said.