Illinois Basketball: Top 5 recruits who will change the Illini program

There are so many players who have come through the Illinois basketball program over the years.

Some of these players have gone on to do great things and others have been solid. There have been some players who have struggled and didn’t finish with the Illini as well. I think it is fair to say, over the last decade, the Illinois basketball program hasn’t been the same.

Illinois has had three coaches since the national title run 13 years ago. Two of these three coaches have done some damage to the Illini recruiting base. Illinois used to be great at snagging local talent and in-state stars. They used to be able to bring in players on command and didn’t lose them to surrounding schools.

The Illinois basketball program sort of lost their way over the last decade, but with a new regime in town I am hoping for new beginnings. Things have started off solid for Brad Underwood and his coaching staff. Have they lost a few that I hoped would commit to Illinois? Sure, but you can’t fix a recent history of losing overnight.

Underwood has snagged some solid players and there are more out there as well. The class of 2018, 2019 and 2020 will provide the great weapons to help this program win. Now all Underwood has to do is bring those recruits to Champaign.

Here are the top five recruits who will change the Illini program.