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Illinois Basketball: Illini getting official visit from Samba Kane

By Rees Woodcock

CHAMPAIGN, IL - JANUARY 22: A general view of the shoes worn by Illinois Fighting Illini forward Leron Black (12) during the game between the Illinois Fighting Illini and the Michigan State Spartans on January 22, 2018 at the State Farm Center in Champaign, Illinois. (Photo by Quinn Harris/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
CHAMPAIGN, IL - JANUARY 22: A general view of the shoes worn by Illinois Fighting Illini forward Leron Black (12) during the game between the Illinois Fighting Illini and the Michigan State Spartans on January 22, 2018 at the State Farm Center in Champaign, Illinois. (Photo by Quinn Harris/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) /
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This weekend is turning into a pretty big one for the Illinois basketball team.

Illinois needs to continue building their class of 2018, and they now have a visitor coming to Champaign for an official visit. Corey Evans of Rivals reported that Samba Kane is going to be heading up to see what the Illinois basketball program is all about this weekend. He will be joining Tevian Jones in what is one of the biggest recruiting weekends for the Illini in a long time.

Kane is a 6-foot-11, 215-pound big man from Florida Preparatory Academy in Melbourne, Florida. He is rated as a three-star recruit who isn’t ranked in the nation. The stock continues to rise for Kane, and Illinois is a destination that could use a big man like him.

It is hard to tell who else is in the running for Kane. He has had a handful of offers which includes the likes of Rutgers and UMass. Illinois just offered Kane on March 2 and the fact he is already taking an official visit to Champaign is great news for Illini fans. We might be getting the big man we have been looking for.

Kane seems to be an underrated talent. Whenever I watch him, I wonder how isn’t rated higher in the recruiting ranks. I think the main reason is probably that he came over to the United States from Dakar, Africa and was a relatively unknown player for a while. He is just starting to emerge on the radar of a lot of programs but hopefully, the Illini can pull him in before his recruitment blows up too much.

The exciting part about Kane is his size. I went off the Rivals size with this article. They have him at 6-foot-11, but I have seen where his height has been 7-foot or even 7-foot-1 in some places. Illinois’ biggest man last season was Michael Finke who was 6-foot-10. It would be fun to watch Kane move well up and down the floor and be able to rebound and block shots with his tremendous wingspan.

Next: Grading the first Illini season under Brad Underwood

Illinois needs to impress Kane this weekend. He could be the piece the Illini have been missing the last three or four years.

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