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Illinois Basketball: Projected Illini starting rotation with Courtney Ramey

By Rees Woodcock

ANN ARBOR, MI - JANUARY 06: Illinois Fighting Illini head coach Brad Underwood talks to his team during a timeout during a regular season Big 10 Conference basketball game between the Illinois Fighting Illini and the Michigan Wolverines on January 6, 2018 at the Crisler Center in Ann Arbor, Michigan. (Photo by Scott W. Grau/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
ANN ARBOR, MI - JANUARY 06: Illinois Fighting Illini head coach Brad Underwood talks to his team during a timeout during a regular season Big 10 Conference basketball game between the Illinois Fighting Illini and the Michigan Wolverines on January 6, 2018 at the Crisler Center in Ann Arbor, Michigan. (Photo by Scott W. Grau/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) /
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CHAMPAIGN, IL – DECEMBER 11: Illinois Fighting Illini flag flies during the game against the Norfolk State Spartans at Assembly Hall on December 11, 2012 in Champaign, Illinois. Illinois won 64-54. (Photo by Joe Robbins/Getty Images) /

No. 2 Guard

Starter: Courtney Ramey

This entire article is built around the idea of Illinois landing Courtney Ramey in the class of 2018. This was a longshot a while ago, but recent reports have the Illini really turning up the heat on the kid.

Ramey was committed to Louisville at one time but due to the FBI probe and the firing of disgraced head coach Rick Pitino, Ramey backed out of his commitment and opened things up. Illinois seems to be putting the full court press on him now.

247Sports has Ramey listed as a four-star guard who is the No. 31 player in the class of 2018 and the No.1 player in the state of Missouri. Landing him would be huge for the Illini program. There are also reports the Missouri Tigers aren’t pursuing him hard anymore as well.

I thought about putting Ramey as the main ball handler, but I ended up having him at the No. 2 guard spot. Honestly, the combination of Frazier and Ramey would be similar to the Dee Brown and Deron Williams combination. They both can handle and shoot the ball.

Backup: Mark Smith

The backup to Ramey would be Mark Smith. As of right now, Smith’s game isn’t ready for starting in the Big Ten. He has the potential to be a superstar, but he just isn’t there yet.

I would love to see Smith as the backup next season at the No. 2 guard spot. This will give him more time to get acclimated to the game.

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