Georgia Defender Pledges Big Ten

Alpharetta (Chattahoochee) linebacker Travis Barr becomes the 2nd known commitment for the University of Illinois this year. Barr finished his junior season with 140 tackles.

The University of Illinois already has a verbal commitment from the #1 prospect in the Midwest in Skokie (Ill.) Niles West running back Rashard Mendenhall and now the Illini have added their first defensive commitment of the year.

Alpharetta (Ga.) Chattahoochee linebacker Travis Barr will return to the Land of Lincoln and play his college football in front of family and friends at the University of Illinois.

“I committed to coach (Tommy) Thigpen.” Barr said. “I’m going to play for Illinois. My parents are from Decatur and I grew up a huge Illinois fan.

“I’ve always wanted to play in the Big Ten conference. In my opinion, the Big Ten is the best conference in college football.

“I know Illinois had a down season last year but I think things will get turned around up there and I want to be a part of that.”

What will Barr bring to the table for the Fighting Illini?

“I’ve been playing football for 12 years and I love the game. I give 110% at everything that I do.

“I’ve started on the varsity since my sophomore year. I finished this past season with 140 tackles, the second best total in school history. Travis had 26 stops in one game.”

Chattahoochee will be getting a new defensive coordinator in 2004 and Travis considers this a big plus.

“We’ll be running a 3-5 next year and we’ll be doing a lot of blitzing. My coaches tell me that this is going to help me get a lot more tackles for loss and sacks. I’ll be making more plays than I ever have before.

“Coach Thigpen told me that we’ll be running basically the same defense the Illinois runs now and that should help me when I get up there next year.”

Did Barr have any other scholarship offers?

“No offers but I told West Virginia the news today and they were upset. Wisconsin told me they liked me a lot and so did Rice.

“My commitment is solid. I’m going to Illinois and I’m happy that I can put the recruiting process behind me and concentrate on my senior year.”

Travis Barr is also Chattahoochee’s starting fullback but says he’s being recruited as an inside linebacker by the Fighting Illini.

Barr carries a 3.55 GPA in the classroom and scored 1070 on his SAT.