Eastern Illinois football head coach
Chris Wilkerson has announced the addition to two players to the Panthers 2023 roster as the team is currently on campus for summer workouts. Set to join the EIU roster are corner Malik Rainey and linebacker Jesse Garza.
Rainey (5-11, 190) is a Chicago native who return to Illinois after spending the last two seasons at Cincinnati. He redshirted the 2021 season and appeared in two games last season on a Bearcats team that went 9-4 and played in the Wasabi Fenway Bowl. Rainey made one tackle against Arkansas while also playing against Kennesaw State. He prepped for coach John Ivlow at Bolingbrook HS where he was rated a 3-Star recruit by 247Sports. He was an All-Area selection playing his senior season as part of the 2020 season played in the shortened 2021 spring season.
Garza (6'2", 235) comes to EIU following two years playing at Allan Hancock College in California. This past season Garza was a second team All-National Northern League selection after leading the team with 72 tackles. He had six tackles for loss with three forced fumbles and three pass break-ups. As a freshman in 2021, Garza finished with 40 tackles with a sack and interception. A native of Nipomo, Calif., Garza prepped at Nipomo HS earning PAC 4A League Defensive Player of the Year honors. He averaged eight tackles per game his last season with nine tackles for loss. He also lettered in track and wrestling winning the 2018-19 CIF Central Section Division 4 title at the 195 pound weight class.
EIU opens the 2023 season in just over 11 weeks on Thursday, Aug. 31 at Indiana State. Following a road game at Bowling Green, EIU will open its five game home schedule on Sept. 16 hosting Illinois State in the Mid-America Classic. Additional home games are Sept. 23 against McNeese State, Oct. 7 against UT Martin, Oct. 21 against Bryant and Nov. 14 against Tennessee State. Season ticket sales and renewals are now available by calling the ticket office at 217-581-2106 or online at
www.eiupanthers.com/fbtickets
