The Illinois basketball team might be down right now, but that isn’t bumming out the coaching staff.
Head coach Brad Underwood and assistant Jamall Walker were both down in St. Louis on Thursday night to watch big-time Illini target Courtney Ramey and his Webster Groves team go up against Vashon. The constant presence in the Ramey recruitment has been a trend for the Illini coaches recently.
#Illini HC Brad Underwood & Jamall Walker are here in St. Louis to see big-time 2018 target Courtney Ramey vs. 2019 PG Mario McKinney & 2020 Cam'Ron Fletcher.
— Derek Piper (@DPiper247) February 16, 2018
South Carolina HC Frank Martin is here as well.
Ramey is a 6-foot-3, 170-pound guard from Saint Louis, Missouri. He is rated as a four-star recruit who is the No. 31 player in the class of 2018 and the No. 1 player in the state of Missouri. This kid hasn’t been back on the market too long either.
For a while, Ramey was committed to Louisville but then backed out of that recruitment once the FBI probe began. He then opened up his recruitment and a myriad of programs stormed him with interest. One of those programs included the Illini.
In an article I wrote about a week ago, I explained the recruiting situation as it currently stood. Ramey took official visits to Oklahoma State and Texas, and then he had plans to head over to UCLA as well. He is actually taking that visit this weekend or was supposed to anyways. My hunch is the commitment of Tyger Campbell to the Bruins will help persuade Ramey to stay in the Midwest.
The fact Illinois is using resources to head down to see Ramey play is great news. That means he hasn’t ruled them out of the running. Illinois sending Underwood down is important as well. He is the big cheese of the program and having him visiting Ramey along with Walker means the Illini really want this kid.
Illinois is really missing two spots in their starting rotation right now. The No. 3 and No. 5 spots for next season don’t have a Big Ten player to fill the role. Ramey would help solve this. I would start Ramey at the No. 1 because that is his primary position. He is an immediate Big Ten caliber guard. Trent Frazier would then move to the No. 2 spot because he is really more of a shooter. Ayo Dosunmu would then take the No. 3 spot. He is a bigger guard and would be perfect in that position.
Next: 5 takeaways from the Illini loss to Indiana
Ramey is pretty important to the future of this Illini program. I hope he realizes the impact he could make on this team. He would be sensational day one for Underwood.