Well, the class of 2017 for the Illinois basketball team continues to get a little weaker by the day it seems.
Javon Pickett announced today that he is asking for his release from his National Letter of Intent. He makes for the second member of the class to ask for his release. Jeremiah Tilmon did the same less than a week ago.
Pickett took to Twitter to release this information thanking the university for their support. He mentioned that the main reason to ask for the release was because the relationship he developed with John Groce. Of course, Groce is no longer with the program. He now is the head coach of Akron, which could end up being the landing spot for Pickett.
Out of the class of 2017 for the Illini, Pickett was the lowest rated player. He is a three-star forward who is 6-foot-4, 175-pounds. He has five total scholarship offers including Illinois. The other four are Drake, Illinois State, Illinois-Chicago and Loyola.
There is no doubt in my mind that losing Pickett will hurt this team a little bit. I was always high on this kid because he has a lot of untapped talent that we all got to see in the summer and in the high school season this past year.
With Pickett bolting the class of 2017, Illinois is now sitting with just two out of the four players from the original four that we had about a week ago. The two remaining players are Trent Frazier and Da’Monte Williams.
Frazier is going to make for a great one-two punch with Te’Jon Lucas at the point. He has amazing ability to get to the bucket and score while also having his head on a swivel to see the open man.
I can’t wait to see what Frazier can do in the orange and blue. He brings a skill set with Lucas that can mirror the 2005 point guard situation.
Williams is also going to be a huge asset to this team. He has the clutch gene and I think he could be extremely underrated. Getting him into the fold early on in his career will be key for his development.
Seeing Williams don that Illinois jersey is exciting. We all know he has superstar ability because we have seen it at the high school level and his dad was amazing with the Illini.
Illinois might have lost two out of the four players from the class of 2017 in the last week, but they still have two guards that will be extremely important for the future.
Next: 4 options to replace Jeremiah Tilmon
The Illini now have two additional scholarships available and that makes four for the next two years. The possibilities are endless and I can’t wait to see what happens in the next few months.