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Illinois Basketball: Ranking the last 10 recruiting classes

By Rees Woodcock

Dec 21, 2016; St. Louis, MO, USA; The Illinois Fighting Illini cheerleaders run on the court before a basketball game against the Missouri Tigers at Scottrade Center. Illinois won 75-66. Mandatory Credit: Denny Medley-USA TODAY Sports
Dec 21, 2016; St. Louis, MO, USA; The Illinois Fighting Illini cheerleaders run on the court before a basketball game against the Missouri Tigers at Scottrade Center. Illinois won 75-66. Mandatory Credit: Denny Medley-USA TODAY Sports /
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Mar 5, 2016; Lawrence, KS, USA; Basketballs next to the court before the game between the Kansas Jayhawks and Iowa State Cyclones at Allen Fieldhouse. Mandatory Credit: John Rieger-USA TODAY Sports
Mar 5, 2016; Lawrence, KS, USA; Basketballs next to the court before the game between the Kansas Jayhawks and Iowa State Cyclones at Allen Fieldhouse. Mandatory Credit: John Rieger-USA TODAY Sports /

No. 10 Class of 2008

The golden years of Illinois basketball were coming to an end and the recruiting had dried up by the time the class of 2008 rolled around.

Illinois was coming off a 13-18 regular season the year before, which was one of the worst records in school history. This drop in performance likely had a huge effect on the drop in recruiting.

The class of 2008 consisted of two players. Stan Simpson was a three-star center and the highest rated player for the Illini.

Simpson was redshirted the first year with the Illini and then only played one season before transferring to Memphis. In that lone season, he averaged 2.1 minutes, .5 points and .4 rebounds.

With Memphis, Simpson didn’t play a whole lot either. He averaged 6.9 minutes, 1.6 points and 1.3 rebounds in his first season and 6 minutes, 1.6 points and 1.1 rebounds in his second year.

The other player in that class was two-star Dominique Keller. He was a junior college transfer from Lee College.

Keller had two productive years with the Illini. He averaged 12.6 minutes, 5.9 points and 2.3 rebounds year one and 11.4 minutes, 4.5 points and 2.2 rebounds in year two. These aren’t terrible stats for a role player off the bench.

Out of the last ten recruiting classes, though, the class of 2008 is by far the worst out of the bunch.

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