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Illinois Basketball: Thoughts on the Talen Horton-Tucker situation

By Rees Woodcock

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)
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) /
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NEW YORK, NY – OCTOBER 19: Illinois Men’s Basketball Head Coach Brad Underwood speaks at the 2017 Big Ten Basketball Media Day at Madison Square Garden on October 19, 2017 in New York City. (Photo by Abbie Parr/Getty Images) /

Present and Future Recruiting

With the whole situation going down the way it did yesterday, many people are upset because this could hurt future recruiting for the Illini. Illinois decided to side with the Mac Irvin Fire over Simeon Career Academy is the way it is perceived.

Okay, let’s be honest, this will probably hurt Illinois recruiting for Simeon the next few years. They traditionally go after players from this program and have a history with some of their top players. Also, having a relationship with the Mac Irvin Fire doesn’t mean we will get all of their top players either. That is a roller coaster that I am scared to ride.

But, if you lay out what Simeon offers right now compared to the Mac Irvin Fire, this was probably the right decision recruiting wise. I don’t like what happened but if they were forced to make a decision, then they should have stuck with Dosunmu because he is the better player and AAU clearly has more pull than high school programs right now.

I hope that the ties to Simeon aren’t completely broken because I like the talent that comes out of there. But, the previous two coaches haven’t been able to pluck the top recruits. They tend to go to blue blood programs. So, is the tie with Simeon that strong right now anyway? I really wish Horton-Tucker and Dosunmu could have played together. They would have done some special things. It is sad that an AAU program has that much pull too. But, I still believe the present and future recruiting situation is strong for the Illini.

Next: Michael Finke past, present and future

The class of 2018 will hopefully finish up strong with a few more additions. I really look for the class of 2019 to be the big one, though. They will, hopefully, add a top 30 recruit in Francis Okoro. Kahlil Whitney is another big recruit who is a top 70 player and a part of the Mac Irvin Fire right now. Those two are squarely in the crosshairs for the Illini.

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