Illinois Basketball: First two years of recruiting is key to success

Bill Self

Class of 2000 (1 4-star, 1 3-star)

Bill Self’s class of 2000 was just the beginning of the golden era of Illinois basketball. He signed two players that year.

The first player was local star, Brett Melton. From what I read, he was a sensational high school basketball player but didn’t get a ton of national attention. I could see him being a high three-star recruit. The other player signed in this class was big man, Nick Smith.

Smith would go on to be an important piece to future Illinois winning. In high school, he was rated as a four-star recruit who was the No. 77 player in the class of 2000. This was actually a good get for Self at the time.

Class of 2001 (2 4-star)

The class of 2001 was the foundation for a national title run just four years later by Bruce Weber. Self snagged a couple good players in this class and a nice junior college transfer.

Blandon Ferguson was the JUCO player that Self got to commit. He didn’t do a ton with Illinois but was a nice addition to this class. The highlights of the class were Luther Head and Roger Powell.

Head was a sensational player who was rated as a four-star recruit who was the No. 75 player in the class of 2001. He would develop to become a great player for the Illini and one of the main reasons they were so close to winning a national title.

Powell was also a great get for the Illini as well. He was a four-star recruit who was ranked as the No. 62 player in the class of 2001. Head and Powell were great finds by Self and this class would go on to be special for Illinois.