Illinois Basketball: Ranking the Illini Recruiting Classes for the Last Decade

facebooktwitterreddit
Prev
3 of 11
Next
Feb 7, 2015; East Lansing, MI, USA; General view of basketball sitting on the court during the 2nd half of a game between the Michigan State Spartans and the Illinois Fighting Illini at Jack Breslin Student Events Center. Mandatory Credit: Mike Carter-USA TODAY Sports
Feb 7, 2015; East Lansing, MI, USA; General view of basketball sitting on the court during the 2nd half of a game between the Michigan State Spartans and the Illinois Fighting Illini at Jack Breslin Student Events Center. Mandatory Credit: Mike Carter-USA TODAY Sports /

The class of 2008 needed to be a good one but the players in this class came up short.

Illinois snagged two players for this class that averaged a 2.5-star rating.

The first player was the 6-foot-9 center, Stan Simpson.

Simpson was supposed to be a pretty good player.  He had the talent and ability to play at the college level, but for one reason or another he just didn’t pan out.

After one season of playing with the Illini, Simpson decided to transfer out and play for the Memphis Tigers.

The other recruit that year was junior college transfer, Dominique Keller.

Keller only spent two seasons with the Illini before graduating and having a successful career overseas.

The time that Keller spent with Illinois was productive.  He averaged 5.2 points per game and pulled down 2.3 rebounds per game as well.

Out of the two of these players, I would say Keller was by far the most productive one.  He played with heart and contributed on the court.

With only two players and an average star of 2.5, there isn’t a wonder why the class of 2008 ranks as the second worse in the last ten years.

Next: No. 8 Recruiting Class