Illinois Basketball: Illini land 2018 big man Samba Kane
The Illinois basketball team has officially landed a big man for the class of 2018.
Samba Kane took to Twitter Friday to announce he has committed to play basketball for the Illinois Fighting Illini. He broke the news mid-afternoon on Friday and the Illini finally have a solid big man to anchor the paint moving forward.
First of all I want to thank God and my mom for always supporting me during the process I also wanna thanks the Illinois stuff for giving me this great opportunity special thanks to Flying Star and Florida Prep I’m blessed to announce that I decided to commit to ILLINOIS pic.twitter.com/GKtgCV147h
— Samba Kane (@SambaKanesa) March 9, 2018
Kane isn’t a well-known player among the recruiting ranks. Rivals have him as a three-star recruit who isn’t ranked nationally or in any state. But, he did have a decent amount of recruiting attention that was starting to heat up. Illinois was able to snag him before more offers had a chance to come in for Kane.
Two years ago, Kane came over to the United States to play basketball. He spent a year in Colorado and then this past season played for Florida Preparatory Academy in Melbourne, Florida. The great part about landing Kane is his size. Rivals list him at 6-foot-11, but I have seen other sites tab him at a possible 7-foot-1.
Illinois is getting a very underrated recruit in Kane. Yes, he is slightly raw on the offensive end but he has great size. Another thing I love about him is his athletic ability. This kid can run the floor better than most players his size. There isn’t a lot of laboring there. He can keep up with the other players. That is a huge bonus to bringing Kane aboard.
Kane is now added to the Illinois class of 2018 that features five-star guard Ayo Dosunmu and underrated guard Alan Griffin. These three form a solid foundation for what should be a competitive team next season. Illinois also has Tevian Jones visiting this weekend with Kane. Hopefully, this commitment helps Jones realize Champaign is the place to be.
Next: Illini depth chart with Samba Kane and Tevian Jones
It is exciting to see Brad Underwood land a big man. It has been a long time since I have been comfortable with the No. 5 spot. I am confident Kane will be the answer to some of the Illini’s troubles in the paint.