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

By Rees Woodcock

CHAMPAIGN, IL - JANUARY 30: The Lou Henson signature is seen on the court before the start of the Big Ten Conference college basketball game between the Rutgers Scarlet Knights and the Illinois Fighting Illini on January 30, 2018, at the State Farm Center in Champaign, Illinois. (Photo by Michael Allio/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
CHAMPAIGN, IL - JANUARY 30: The Lou Henson signature is seen on the court before the start of the Big Ten Conference college basketball game between the Rutgers Scarlet Knights and the Illinois Fighting Illini on January 30, 2018, at the State Farm Center in Champaign, Illinois. (Photo by Michael Allio/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) /
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WASHINGTON, DC – MARCH 12: Big Ten logo on the floor before the Big Ten Men’s Basketball Final against the Wisconsin Badgers and Michigan Wolverines at the Verizon Center on March 12, 2017 in Washington, DC. The Wolverines won 71-56. (Photo by Mitchell Layton/Getty Images) *** Local Caption *** /

2. Kahlil Whitney

Everyone on this list of five players is big for the Illinois basketball program. But, the one player I think is a must get for the future is Kahlil Whitney. This kid is already a superstar in high school and will become a superstar at the college level.

Whitney is a 6-foot-6, 190-pound small forward from Roselle Catholic High School in Roselle, New Jersey. He is rated as a four-star recruit who is the No. 55 player in the class of 2019 and the No. 14 small forward in the nation. The recruitment is still open for Whitney, but I feel like Illinois is sitting in the driver seat right now.

I have Whitney on the list of top five recruits to change the Illini program because of how talented he is on the basketball court and what he would bring to the team. There is video of all the recruits you see on the top 100 list. A lot of these players are just physically impressive. They dunk over kids who aren’t even close to their skill level and fans drool over their gifts.

But, Whitney is different. He can do all the fancy dunking and the athletic stuff that everyone else is doing, but he can also do the other things as well. Whitney can hit a shot from anywhere on the basketball court. He can post up, hit the mid-range turnaround and knock down a clutch three-pointer when his team needs it.

Whitney is averaging 22 points, 6.6 rebounds and 1.5 assists per game this AAU season with the Mac Irvin Fire. He is scoring all of those points on 51.6-percent shooting from the field and 43.9-percent shooting from deep. I don’t know how I can stress it any more. This kid is a superstar and you can take it to the bank. He would be a game changer. He would be a program changer. I want him in Orange and Blue.

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