Illinois Basketball: Ranking the last 10 Illini recruiting classes

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PISCATAWAY, NJ – FEBRUARY 25: Illinois Fighting Illini guard Te’Jon Lucas (3) during the first half of the College Basketball Game between the Rutgers Scarlet Knights and the Illinois Fighting Illini on February 25, 2018, at the Louis Brown Athletic Center in Piscataway, NJ. (Photo by Rich Graessle/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) /

9. Class of 2016

The No. 9 class on this list wasn’t much better than the class of 2012. Illinois was in some serious need of help in the class of 2016 but all they received was one player, and he wasn’t the game changer we all had hoped.

Te’Jon Lucas was the lone player in the class of 2016. He was a three-star guard from Milwaukee, Wisconsin. He was ranked as the No. 138 player in the class of 2016 and the No. 28 point guard in the nation.

I will say this. Illinois needed point guard help, and I liked the pickup of Lucas. I thought he was one of the best players we had in his freshman campaign, and last season wasn’t terrible either. He started to form into a nice backup once he was sent to the bench.

But, there were a few reasons Illinois couldn’t bring in a few more players. They had a terrible season in 2015-2016 and this probably had a negative effect on recruiting. Groce also couldn’t recruit the big man. He just didn’t have the capability, and at the time Illinois needed a big man.

Lucas has since transferred out the program now that there is a new head coach at Illinois. He is looking for a new home where he can start right away because he was benched last season. The fact the Illini only snagged one player and he is now not on the team means this class sits at No. 9 on this list.

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