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Illinois Basketball: Ranking the last 10 Illini recruiting classes

By Rees Woodcock

AUSTIN, TX - MARCH 22: D.J. Richardson
AUSTIN, TX - MARCH 22: D.J. Richardson /
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LAS VEGAS, NV – MARCH 05: Basketballs are shown in a ball rack before a semifinal game of the West Coast Conference basketball tournament between the San Francisco Dons and the Gonzaga Bulldogs at the Orleans Arena on March 5, 2018 in Las Vegas, Nevada. The Bulldogs won 88-60. (Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images)
LAS VEGAS, NV – MARCH 05: Basketballs are shown in a ball rack before a semifinal game of the West Coast Conference basketball tournament between the San Francisco Dons and the Gonzaga Bulldogs at the Orleans Arena on March 5, 2018 in Las Vegas, Nevada. The Bulldogs won 88-60. (Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images) /

10. Class of 2012

The class of 2012 is the No. 10 class on this ranking because of one reason. They didn’t have anyone ranked commit to this class, and this honestly set the program back for at least the next five years.

Bruce Weber’s final season as the head coach of the Illini was the 2011-2012 campaign. It was a complete disaster for the program and for Weber. Illinois started off great with a 15-3 record but after that point, the bottom fell out. They finished the season 17-14 and were a first round out in the Big Ten Tournament.

This terrible finished enabled new athletic director Mike Thomas to relieve Weber of his duties. This probably had something to do with the lack of players to commit to the class of 2012. Illinois plummeting at the end of the season didn’t help either.

Illinois did add Mike LaTulip as a freshman and Sam McLaurin as a graduate transfer in 2012, but that wasn’t nearly enough to make up for the lost talent. Illinois ended up losing the entire class of 2010 after the terrible finish. Meyers Leonard is still in the NBA today, Jereme Richmond’s legacy is known by all Illini fans and I am not sure what Crandall Head is up to nowadays.

The Illini also lost graduate transfer, Sam Maniscalco, as well. He was veteran leadership the previous season. Losing these four players really killed the team. The fact John Groce took Illinois to the NCAA tournament was nothing short of a miracle. But, the class of 2012 easily goes down as the worst class in the last 10 years.

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