Illinois Basketball: Illini in the hunt for Blake Hinson
On Tuesday, the Illinois basketball team received some great – unexpected – news from a recruiting target.
Blake Hinson decided to reclassify and will be available in the class of 2018. This is huge news for whoever is recruiting the young kid, and Illinois is in the mix.
I will be reclassifying up to the class of 2018
— Blake Hinson (@B_Hinson21) March 20, 2018
Hinson is a 6-foot-7, 230-pound forward from Sunrise Christian Academy in Bel Aire, Kansas. He is rated as a four-star recruit who is the No. 84 player in the class of 2019. They haven’t updated the recruiting rankings now that he has reclassified for 2018, though. I would bet he still ends up in the top 100 but nothing is guaranteed.
When Hinson tweeted out yesterday he was going to reclassify, that peaked my interest. Back on February 12, the Illini offered Hinson a scholarship and this got them into the mix for his recruitment. Kedric Prince of Rivals also broke some news yesterday as well.
Prince reported that Hinson said, “Illinois is in my final three schools along with Seton Hall and Washington State.” He will also get his visits planned soon as well.
#Illini basketball recruiting update, 6’7” four-star recruit ’19 Blake Hinson will reclassify making him eligible next season now ’18. Hinson said: Illinois is in my final three schools along with Seton Hall and Washington State. Will get visits planned soon. pic.twitter.com/Xjef5ptkTB
— Kedric Prince (@KedPrince4) March 20, 2018
The three college choices for Hinson are very interesting. I like that Hinson didn’t include a Florida school in the mix for his commitment. That bodes well for the Illini. He is originally from West Volusia High School in Deltona, Florida. He then transferred to Sunrise Christian.
Illinois is the closest program out of the three to Sunrise Christian, so they have that going for them. The Illini also have a massive need for a player of his size and skillset.
Brad Underwood had an unexpected departure in Leron Black this offseason. Black is now trying to break through into the NBA, but Illinois is left with a big hole at the No. 4 spot. That role could be filled by Hinson. With his size and build, I would project Hinson to be the starting No. 4 entering next season.
Next: Projected Illini roster with two scholarships remaining
It is huge that the Illini are in Hinson’s top three. They have a need for this kid and something tells me they land him. This would be a big pickup or the Illini in 2018.