Illinois Basketball: Illini need to land one of these two players
The Illinois basketball team is in the hunt for some big names in the class of 2019.
Illini fans have heard many different names thrown around from this class over the last few years. To get back on top of the Big Ten, or at least contend in the conference again, Illinois will need to land a few big ones in 2019.
The two players who are standing out right now are Kahlil Whitney and EJ Liddell. Whitney is a wing player who is a five-star recruit and is ranked as the No. 14 player in the class of 2019. Liddell is a forward who is a four-star recruit and is ranked as the No. 48 player in the class of 2019. For the Illini, both of these players would bring something special to the team. One thing in my mind is certain, though. Illinois needs to land one of these two players.
Whitney actually just cut his list down from eight teams to four. He kept Georgetown, Kentucky, Oregon and Illinois on this list. Brad Underwood and the Illinois coaching staff have a great relationship with Whitney and they are close with his AAU team, Mac Irvin Fire. Both of these connections should help them in landing Whitney.
Liddell has been a top priority for the Illini over the last few years as well. He is releasing his top five soon and it will likely be soon after I release this post. With the amount of time and resources Illinois has put into the Liddell recruitment – along with him being an in-state recruit – should enable the Orange and Blue to get into his top five.
As the recruiting process moves along for these two talented players, Illinois fans continue to get more and more anxious. Both of these players would help the team tremendously. They would both improve the program from day one. I would love to see either of these players team up with Trent Frazier and Ayo Dosunmu on the court in 2019. That would make for one good, competitive, team in the Big Ten.
Next. Kahlil Whitney keeps Illini in top 4. dark
The time is coming for these two to make a decision on their recruitment. Underwood and Company need to close on at least one of these players so the program can continue building back into a national power.