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Illinois Basketball: Illini make cut for George Conditt

By Rees Woodcock

CHAMPAIGN, IL - JANUARY 27: Illinois Fighting Illinois fans cheer against the Michigan Wolverines during the game at Assembly Hall on January 27, 2013 in Champaign, Illinois. Michigan defeated Illinois 74-60. (Photo by Joe Robbins/Getty Images)
CHAMPAIGN, IL - JANUARY 27: Illinois Fighting Illinois fans cheer against the Michigan Wolverines during the game at Assembly Hall on January 27, 2013 in Champaign, Illinois. Michigan defeated Illinois 74-60. (Photo by Joe Robbins/Getty Images) /
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One of the big up-and-coming Illinois basketball recruiting targets is George Conditt.

Conditt is a 6-foot-10, 200-pound big man from Corliss High School in Chicago, Illinois. He is rated as a three-star power forward who is the No. 209 player according to 247Sports and the No. 278 player according to Scout in the class of 2018.

There are quite a few teams after Conditt. He continues to rise in the recruiting rankings but it looks like he has officially cut his list down to just 11 programs. The 11 teams that made the cut are Iowa State, New Mexico, Virginia Tech, Georgia Tech, Maryland, UTEP, Colorado, Houston, Washington, Michigan and Illinois. He released this list in an interview with Scott Burgess of Prep Hoops.

In the interview with Burgess, Conditt explains he has two official visits set up – UTEP and New Mexico – and he will visit the local programs on unofficial visits. That means Illinois will likely get an unofficial visit since they are the state school for Conditt. He mentions in the interview that he does like Illinois because they are the in-state program and his family can come see him play.

It is still extremely early in the process with 11 teams still having a shot at Conditt. But, it is great news he seems to like Illinois and they need him, arguably, more than any of the other 10 programs.

Illinois is heading into the 2017-2018 season with Matic Vesel, Greg Eboigbodin and Michael Finke as the only players over 6-foot-7. I think Vesel and Eboigbodin could be good but we haven’t seen them play in a single game yet. Finke could be a viable option because he has bulked up this offseason. He still needs to improve his defense, though. I could see 6-foot-7 Leron Black potentially getting the nod at the No. 5 spot this season if the other options don’t work out for the best.

The Illini would head into the 2018-2019 season with the same problem, though. They need more options and this is what Conditt would provide. He has great ability and the Illini could use him at the No. 5. Hopefully, his defense continues to improve during his senior campaign.

Next: Projected Illini roster for 2020 season

Illinois could use Conditt on the roster. He has the ability to be good at the college level and we need a player like him in Champaign.

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