Illinois Basketball: Brad Underwood hitting the recruiting trail hard

As soon as Brad Underwood signed on with the Illinois basketball team, I knew he was going to be a hard-working recruiter.

You can’t tell if Underwood is going to turn around the Illini because he hasn’t coached a single game in the orange and blue, but he is clearly going to put the work in to get the best players to come to Champaign.

Illinois is in the middle of recruiting Mark Smith for the class of 2017. He is one of the highest rated players left for the class and Illinois has beat out a lot of blue bloods for his attention. That is impressive and it is also a great feat to still be alive in his recruitment after a coaching change.

When Underwood took the reins, he immediately made Smith a priority and now the Illini are likely in the final two, with Michigan State, for his commitment.

In addition to all of this Smith talk, Underwood is also on the recruiting trail watching future recruits play in their AAU games.

Underwood is currently in Hampton, Virginia for the first leg of the EYBL AAU league. According to reports by Corey Evans of Rivals, he is there to see James Wiseman and Darius Garland. But, he is not the only big head coach there to see players.

Evans also mentions that Duke’s Mike Krzyzewski, Kentucky’s John Calipari, Vanderbilt’s Bryce Drew and Kansas’s Bill Self are all there watching the young recruits as well. That is one impressive list of coaches that are extremely intimidating on the recruiting trail.

Garland is a big-time point guard in the class of 2018. He is a five-star recruit who is the No. 11 player in the nation. If Underwood can land him that would be a game-changer for the program.

Wiseman is actually from the class of 2019. He is a superstar center who is ranked as a five-star recruit and is the No. 8 player in the nation.

Both of these recruits will be tough to land for Underwood considering the coaches that are after them. If he can, though, then the Illini will have an extremely bright future.

I would imagine that Underwood is likely there for a few more players as well. Francis Okoro is also there and he is from Normal, Illinois, just a hop, skip and jump away from Champaign. He has been on the minds of Illinois fans a lot lately.

Okoro is a four-star recruit for the class of 2019. He is also the No. 29 player in the nation as well. He played pretty well in the first game of the session finishing with 8 points and 8 rebounds.

I imagine that the other coaches will be after Okoro as well, but at least Underwood has the location factor to help in the recruitment.

Next: Illini offer to Francesco Badocchi would add depth at forward

Things are going to get heated on the recruiting trail. One thing is for sure, though, Underwood is working his butt off and I am proud to have him as my head coach.