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Illinois Basketball: Talen Horton-Tucker means taking back the state

By Rees Woodcock

KANSAS CITY, MO - MARCH 09: Head coach Brad Underwood of the Oklahoma State Cowboys reacts from the bench during the quarterfinal game of the Big 12 Basketball Tournament against the Iowa State Cyclones at the Sprint Center on March 9, 2017 in Kansas City, Missouri. (Photo by Jamie Squire/Getty Images)
KANSAS CITY, MO - MARCH 09: Head coach Brad Underwood of the Oklahoma State Cowboys reacts from the bench during the quarterfinal game of the Big 12 Basketball Tournament against the Iowa State Cyclones at the Sprint Center on March 9, 2017 in Kansas City, Missouri. (Photo by Jamie Squire/Getty Images) /
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Thursday night was pretty big for the Illinois basketball program. The fact the Illini snagged five-star guard Ayo Dosunmu for the future is huge for the team.

Dosunmu is a great player but he is going to need more talent around him as well. Illinois has two more scholarships to fill for 2018, and they have one big-time recruit visiting this weekend.

Talen Horton-Tucker is currently in Champaign visiting with Brad Underwood, the coaching staff and the campus. He is trying to find a place where he feels comfortable and where he can excel on the basketball court. Hopefully, Illinois can make a good enough pitch to get him to commit.

Illinois could use him in 2018 and beyond. He is a 6-foot-5 combo-wing player. I could see him playing out on the perimeter at times but he also has a big body where he can go into the post as well. I really love how he is a bulldog type of player. He can drive the lane and take a hit and get right back up and do it again. That is the type of player I want in Champaign.

But, getting Horton-Tucker to come to Illinois isn’t going to be an easy task. I feel like Iowa State is probably the leader right now but having a guard to play with like Dosunmu has to be enticing for Horton-Tucker. He can feed off Dosunmu and really be a star in the Orange and Blue.

Not only will Horton-Tucker be a star, but he can also continue helping the Illini take back control of in-state recruiting as well. Illinois currently has Dosunmu committed, who is the No. 1 player in the state of Illinois. Horton-Tucker is the No. 2 player in the state and if the Illini can get him, that would be the first time the top two in-state players picked Illinois since 2010. That was the year Meyers Leonard and Jereme Richmond committed who was the No. 31 and 35 players in the nation, respectively.

Next: Ayo Dosunmu most meaningful commitment of all-time

So, the Illini have more at stake this weekend then they have had in a while. Illinois needs a player like Horton-Tucker because he is talented but they also need him because they need to take control of in-state recruiting. The future is bright for this program and getting Horton-Tucker would be another step in the right direction.

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