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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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Jan 4, 2017; South Bend, IN, USA; Two basketballs are stuck in the net during warmups before the game between the Notre Dame Fighting Irish and the Louisville Cardinals at the Purcell Pavilion. Notre Dame won 77-70. Mandatory Credit: Matt Cashore-USA TODAY Sports /

No. 7 Class of 2007

Yes, I know the class of 2007 was actually 11 years ago and not 10, but Illinois didn’t snag a single player in the class of 2012 so I just went back one more year.

Illinois had six players commit for the class of 2007 and this made it one of the deeper classes in the last ten years. They had some talented players sign up led by Demetri McCamey.

McCamey was the only top 100 player in this class coming in at No. 71 overall. He was a four-star recruit from St. Joseph High School and a point guard who would lead the Illini into the future. He would spend some great years with the program and go down as one of the most underrated players ever.

Illinois also had two more four-stars in this class. Rodney Alexander was a junior college transfer from Redlands. He averaged 4.6 points and 2.9 rebounds per game in his lone season with the Illini.

The other four-star was Mike Tisdale. He was a sentimental legend for the Illini in my books. He was a 7-foot-1 monster who had some nice touch around the hoop. He averaged 10 points and 6.5 rebounds per game his senior season.

The Illini also had three-star Bill Cole who would contribute over the next four years and Mike Davis who was an athletic freak of nature. Both would be nice pieces for Illinois runs to the NCAA tournament.

The final recruit was three-star Quinton Watkins. He was supposed to be a pretty good player but couldn’t cut it academically to get into Illinois.

The class of 2007 had some promise to it. This group of players produced some solid teams under Bruce Weber.

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