Illinois Basketball: Ranking the last 10 Illini recruiting classes

5. Class of 2009

I contemplated making the class of 2009 ranked higher than No. 5, but this class only had one player in the top 100. Despite the lower rankings, the players for this class did some great things.

I would say the best player from the class was Brandon Paul. He was a four-star recruit who was the No. 125 player in the class of 2009 and the No. 34 shooting guard in the nation. Paul would go on to be a great scorer for the Illini and was the leader on the last Illini team to make the NCAA tournament. He is also on the San Antonio Spurs of the NBA.

DJ Richardson was a solid player in the class of 2009 as well. He was a four-star recruit who was the No. 110 player in the class of 2009 and the No. 2 combo-guard in the nation. He was a great three-point shooter for the Illini and continues to do great things overseas.

All Illinois fans will have Tyler Griffey in the hearts for the rest of time. He was a four-star power forward who was ranked as the No. 95 player in the class of 2009 and the No. 28 power forward in the nation. Griffey was the player who made the game-winning layup to beat No. 1 Indiana. I will never forget that game.

Illinois also had Joseph Bertrand who was a four-star recruit and Kevin Berardini who wasn’t ranked in this class as well. Bertrand would go on to be a contributor for the Illini.

This class had some serious talent who were all underrated. Some of the greatest moments in Illini history came from this class. I will never forget these players and what they did for the program.