Illinois Basketball: Sit back and let Landers Nolley make his decision
The Illinois basketball team moved one step closer to landing a big-time recruit yesterday.
Landers Nolley cut his list from eight teams to just four yesterday afternoon and kept the Illini alive. Georgia Tech, North Carolina State, UConn and Florida State were all cut from his top eight leaving Georgia, Georgia State, Virginia Tech and Illinois vying for his services.
Illinois making the cut for Nolley is huge for the class of 2018. If they can land him it would be the first domino to fall in what should be a pretty good class. Landing him would also give the Illini a top 100 player as well. He is currently rated as a four-star recruit who is the No. 57 player in the class of 2018 and the No. 13 small forward in the nation.
A week ago I felt great about Illinois’ chances of landing Nolley. He still seems to be warming up to the program and the Illini coaching staff but last night, Michael O’Brien of the Chicago Sun-Times reported that he is hearing from his Curie High School contacts that Nolley will be staying in the south for college. Nolley transferred to Curie for one season before transferring back down to Georgia.
This report makes me nervous because I don’t want to lose this kid. Nolley is a really good basketball player and Illinois could use him immediately. But, if this report is correct, that means both Illinois and Virginia Tech are out of the running. He will either choose Georgia or Georgia State. And, in addition to that reporting, why even keep the Illini and Hokies in the mix? Why wouldn’t Nolley make the final four Georgia, Georgia State, Georgia Tech and North Carolina State?
With situations like the one Illinois fans are going through right now, I tend to just sit back and wait for the decision. There are many reports out there for every recruit saying the kid is going to this program or this other program is out of the running. No one really knows what the recruit is going to do until he actually picks up that hat or posts some cool video on Twitter. That is the approach I am taking with Nolley.
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Nolley wouldn’t keep Illinois in the top four if he wasn’t seriously considering the program. I hope he chooses what best fits him, whether that be a school down south or maybe a program on the rise wearing Orange and Blue. Whatever he decides to do, I am not getting rabbit ears. I am going to sit back and wait to see what Nolley decides to do with his future and wish him the best.