Illinois Basketball: Thoughts on the Talen Horton-Tucker situation

1 of 5

NEW YORK, NY – MARCH 18: Head coach Brad Underwood of the Stephen F. Austin Lumberjacks reacts in the first half against the West Virginia Mountaineers during the first round of the 2016 NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament at Barclays Center on March 18, 2016 in the Brooklyn borough of New York City. (Photo by Al Bello/Getty Images) /

Last night was rough if you are an Illinois basketball fan. The team was so close to nailing down another top 60 recruit until everything went off the rails.

As of right now, it is not entirely clear exactly what happened with the Talen Horton-Tucker situation. Here is what I have heard from recruiting people and what has been written about the situation.

Horton-Tucker, a top 60 player in the class of 2018, was going to sign with Michigan State a while ago but they ran out of scholarships. So, he decided to reopen his recruitment and Illinois was hard after him. They had him and Dosunmu in the crosshairs.

Dosunmu ended up committing to Illinois a few Thursdays ago and Horton-Tucker visited the campus that weekend as well. Everything looked fine and dandy at the time. But, sometime between last weekend and this past Thursday night, some people with recruiting power gave Brad Underwood and the Illinois coaching staff an ultimatum.

Now, Illinois fans are left with a top 30 recruit – which is phenomenal – and a lot of questions. Here are my thoughts on the entire Talen Horton-Tucker situation.

Home/Illinois Basketball