Writing Illini
Fansided

Illinois Basketball: Da’Monte Williams Commits, Tilmon Next?

ByRees Woodcock|
Jan 3, 2016; Columbus, OH, USA; Illinois Fighting Illini head coach John Groce directs his team against the Ohio State Buckeyes at Value City Arena. Ohio State won the game 75-73. Mandatory Credit: Greg Bartram-USA TODAY Sports
Jan 3, 2016; Columbus, OH, USA; Illinois Fighting Illini head coach John Groce directs his team against the Ohio State Buckeyes at Value City Arena. Ohio State won the game 75-73. Mandatory Credit: Greg Bartram-USA TODAY Sports

The Illinois basketball team has a lack good fortune this season, but last night they received some news that will better the future exponentially.

Next: Jarell White Key to the Success of the Illini

During the battle the Illini were having against the Minnesota Golden Gophers, current Illinois recruit Da’Monte Williams announced via Twitter that he has decided to commit to the Fighting Illini.

Williams is a 4-star point guard from Manual High School in Peoria, Illinois. Rivals has him also ranked as the 56th best player in the nation and the 2nd best player in the state of Illinois.

There were many teams that wanted Williams but a lot of them didn’t want to go after him because they didn’t want to waste time and resources on someone who was pretty much guaranteed to commit to Illinois.

Williams did choose the Illini over Kansas and Indiana.  Both of these schools were scaring me in his recruitment.

Indiana was trying to take advantage of the fact they beat our butts this season by a total of 61 points.  Kansas was always a threat in my eyes as well because Bill Self used to coach his dad and Kansas is a very successful program.

But with that said, Williams still stuck with the Illini and now the future is looking a lot brighter.

Williams is the 2nd player to commit for the class of 2017.  He joins Javon Pickett in hopes of bringing this great program back to prominence.

We have now addressed one of the big flaws in the current team.  Illinois is bringing in 2016 point guard Te’John Lucas and now they have 2017 point guard Williams coming in.  That will stabilize the point guard position, but we still have another area to solidify.

The center position has been a big issue with this team in the last 4 years.  We haven’t had a good big man that can rebound and score around the rim.  That needs to change and possibly could soon.

The main guy that we turn our focus to now is center Jeremiah Tilmon.  He is a 5-star recruit that is ranked as the 19th best player in the nation.  This would be a complete game changer.

Getting Tilmon into the program could be a possibility too.  In an interview with Scout’s Derek Piper, Tilmon explained his thoughts on the Williams commitment.

"“I feel like it helps a lot. People are going to be expecting me to commit too,” Tilmon laughed. “He’s a real good player. I like his game. He’s a dog on the court. I feel like him playing at Illinois is going to help them with me a lot.”"

Tilmon came out and said these very encouraging things about Illinois and about Williams impact on his decision whether to come to Illinois or not.

I hope the Williams commitment will push Tilmon over the edge and he follows suit soon.  That would make the future look completely different if that happens.

Now, for my opinion on what has happened.

The Williams commitment is great.  He is going to be phenomenal and will help this team on so many levels.  I am excited to watch him play for the Illini in a couple of seasons.

I feel like this commitment was a matter of when and not if.  Illinois had the leading edge in his commitment the whole time and this just sealed the deal.

The big fish that has been eluding Groce in his tenure with the Illini is Tilmon.  He is the complete program changer.  Williams is going to be special and we are going to be improved, but there is still work left to do.

More from Writing Illini

Illinois received a 4-star commitment last night, now let’s reel in the 5-star and make the future even better.

Depending on where Tilmon goes it may define Groce’s career with Illinois.  If he doesn’t commit to the Illini then that is another missed big time recruit for Groce.  That would make a handful that we have been close to but couldn’t pull in.  That would prove he isn’t a coach who can get the big fish in the recruiting world.

But, if Groce does pull in Tilmon that would change the views of his recruiting abilities; at least for me it would.

Groce getting Tilmon would mean he can snag those big fish and he will have set up a team for great success in the future.  That helps eliminate one of many reasons why I don’t want him as the head coach anymore.

Williams committed to the Illini and that will help in the future because he is a talented point guard.  Now Groce needs to keep at it and get Tilmon to come to Champaign.  That would be a game changer for the program and perception.

Home/Illinois Basketball Recruiting