Illinois Basketball: It is a two team race for George Conditt

In the wake of the football team starting their season off with a victory, the Illinois basketball team made some news as well.

Illinois is now in the top three for big man George Conditt. This news came out yesterday afternoon when Conditt decided to release his final three programs he will be choosing from. These three teams included Iowa State, New Mexico and Illinois.

Conditt is a 6-foot-10, 200-pound power forward from Corliss High School in Chicago, Illinois. He is rated as a three-star recruit by both 247Sports and Scout but is the No. 210 player in the class of 2018 and the No. 6 player in the state of Illinois according to 247Sports. Scout doesn’t have him ranked as of right now.

I think the team to be left out of these three is New Mexico. While they offer a nice package, I assume, they seem to be the odd man out. Illinois and Iowa State both have different things to offer Conditt and these reasons are extremely enticing.

Iowa State has the legacy advantage over Illinois for Conditt’s commitment. His father played football for the Cyclones in the 1990’s and that familiarity with the program has to be a big plus for Iowa State. They also don’t have a bad basketball program either. In the last two seasons under Steve Prohm, the team has gone to the Final 32 and the Sweet 16. Those are pretty good runs.

Illinois also has an intriguing offer as well. They can start off with location. Conditt is from the Chicago area and only having to drive two hours and six minutes to get to school is a huge luxury. That is far enough away from home where you can feel on your own but close enough to make the trip back home on the weekends. Plus, your family can come see you play whenever as well.

The Illini can also offer Conditt minutes on the floor. The No. 5 spot is by no means settled this season or into the future. There are a lot of question marks. If Conditt comes to Champaign, he could possibly start for the Illini year one.

Next: Recruiting update on the class of 2018

I think Iowa State and Illinois are the final two for Conditt and from there, who knows which team will land him. The Illini could use this kid in the paint and hopefully, he is the first member of the class of 2018.