Between 1998 and 2001, the Illinois baseball team had three winners of the Big Ten Pitcher of the Year (1998, 2000, 2001). This week the team signed four players, and three of them are pitchers hoping to follow the Illini pitching success.

"Pitching is probably always a primary concern," Illinois baseball head coach Richard "Itch" Jones said. "We're happy with what we brought in. We went out to bring in some pitching and an infielder, and we got two right-handers and one left-hander."

Infielder Joey Bonadonna, right-handed pitcher Scott Shaw, left-handed pitcher Blake Hopkins and right-handed pitcher Matt Whitmore signed national letters of intent to join the Illinois baseball team this week.

"Illinois is close to home and a lot of my friends are going to Illinois and Parkland," Bonadonna said. "It was my No. 1 choice from the beginning. That was where I wanted to go. I visited another school just to compare and that school didn't even compare to Illinois."

Bonadonna visited Cincinnati and received interest from Boston College and Villanova before choosing Illinois. Bonadonna's high school coach, Robert Mackey, considers Bonadonna one of the best players to come through the program in his 26 years at Adlai E. Stevenson High School in Lincolnshire, Ill.

"As far as his baseball talent, he's a fairly complete player," Mackey said. "He's a good defensive player with a strong arm. He's an igniter type of guy that can take pitchers deep into the count and he can bunt. Also, he's a really aggressive base runner."

Both Bonadonna and Shaw played together during the summer for the Kenosha Indians, and Bonadonna looks forward to continuing to play together the next four years in Champaign.

"He's a good friend of mine," Bonadonna said. "I'm hoping we get to room together next year."

Shaw didn't start pitching regularly until last spring. He was a catcher at Warren Township High School prior to finding pitching success.

"Scott's been a converted catcher and he has such a strong arm, so he's only going to get better as he gets more and more experienced on the mound," Jones said.

Before Shaw gets used to the mound, he'll have to recover from a left shoulder injury that will sideline him from the high school basketball season. Shaw said the shoulder injury doesn't affect his pitching.

"It's an injury that doesn't really go away; I need to have surgery," Shaw said. "It doesn't affect baseball at all. It just affects basketball, when I'm rebounding my arms are straight up in the air and my arm is vulnerable."

The third player coming to Illinois is Blake Hopkins from Francis Howell High School in St. Charles, Mo. Hopkins can already throw the ball at 89 mph and averaged over a strikeout per inning during the summer.

"You always try to get left-handers," Jones said. "Blake Hopkins is a left-handed pitcher who pitched on his high school team some last year. He's going to be a person that's going to improve."

Hopkins' grandparents live in the Champaign area, so even with home more than 190 miles away, he's been to Champaign multiple times and said he's comfortable with the area.

"I hope I can come there and play right away," Hopkins said. "They think I can play as a freshman. They said they're not planning to red-shirt me. I have to be able to come over there and play."

The fourth recruit signed by Illinois did not turn his paperwork in until Wednesday, the final fall signing day. Matt Whitmore comes to Illinois after playing at John A. Logan Community College.

"He can probably be a starter or impact player his first year," Jones said. "He's got three pitches he can throw for a strike. He'll give us a little more experience going in."

The Illini will continue to look for talent to replace the seven seniors and junior Dusty Bensko, who may leave early to pursue a professional career.

"I don't know how much financial aid we've got out there, but we'll still be looking for good athletes," Jones said. "We're probably still going to have to come in with another infielder, outfielder or someone that can play infield or outfield."