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Illinois Basketball: Illini land second commitment of 2018 with Alan Griffin

By Rees Woodcock

CHAPEL HILL, NC - DECEMBER 20: Two basketballs are stuck in a net prior to the game between the Wofford Terriers and the North Carolina Tar Heels at Dean Smith Center on December 20, 2017 in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. Wofford won 79-75. (Photo by Lance King/Getty Images)
CHAPEL HILL, NC - DECEMBER 20: Two basketballs are stuck in a net prior to the game between the Wofford Terriers and the North Carolina Tar Heels at Dean Smith Center on December 20, 2017 in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. Wofford won 79-75. (Photo by Lance King/Getty Images) /
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The Illinois basketball team received their second commitment of the class of 2018 on Friday afternoon.

Alan Griffin took to Twitter to announce he is ending his recruitment and is now committed to Illinois. He is a 6-foot-5, 180-pound wing player from Archbishop Stepinac High School in White Plains, New York. 247Sports doesn’t have him rated in the class yet, but this is a great get by the Illini just days after being eliminated from the Big Ten Tournament.

Griffin’s recruitment had picked up recently with scholarship offers from the likes of St. John’s and Saint Louis, but Illinois ended up swooping in and getting this underrated recruit. Don’t take the recruiting ranks, or lack thereof, too seriously with this kid. He has a lot of talent that will help the Illini.

There are currently seven players nominated for the Mr. NY Basketball award for 2018 and Griffin is one of them along with Moses Brown, Greg Dolan, Savion Lewis, Frankie Policello and Matthew Jared Rhoden.

This season, Griffin has put up some impressive numbers to earn the Mr. Basketball nomination. He is currently one of the leaders on his Archbishop team who is currently 22-5 this season. He has averaged 18.2 points, 10.1 rebounds, 4 assists, 2.4 steals and 1.8 blocks in the 27 games. His presence on the basketball court has been great for his team, and now the Illini have a chance to expand on that success.

Griffin now joins five-star guard Ayo Dosunmu in the Illinois class of 2018. These two players will help build the Illini backcourt and No. 3 spot for the next two or three seasons. I imagine Griffin will probably be competing for the starting job at the No. 3 spot this upcoming season as well.

Next: 5 takeaways from the Illini loss to the Iowa Hawkeyes

Illinois’ roster is going to be interesting. The depth is starting to build and Brad Underwood is bringing in more talent. Now we just need a serviceable big man.

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