Alex Roux, BTN.com editor, February 16, 2017

Ohio State has LeBron James, Northwestern has Julia Louis-Dreyfus and Indiana has John Mellencamp.

Go ahead and add Chance the Rapper to the list of celebrities showing Big Ten love. On Wednesday, Illinois head football coach Lovie Smith offered Chance a belated congratulations on Twitter to the 23-year-old Chicago-based musician following his three wins at last Sunday's Grammy Awards.

https://twitter.com/LovieSmith/status/832059397073412096

Chance was quick to respond as he quote-retweeted Smith's tweet with a message of his own for the second-year Illini head man.

As his global celebrity status has grown, so has the spotlight on Chance's sports fandom. His support of local teams and athletes has been well-documented, and he currently serves as an official club ambassador for the Chicago White Sox. He also cheered on the crosstown Chicago Cubs during their 2016 World Series run.

Although Chance is probably a bigger fan of Smith's work with his hometown Bears than the downstate Illini, his admiration of Smith's impact across the state is apparent. If Smith can reel Chance into the ranks of Illini football fandom, it might be his best recruiting job yet.