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Illinois Basketball: Quincy Guerrier keeping Illini in top 10 is huge

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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The Illinois basketball team moved another step closer to landing a big-time player on Tuesday night.

Quincy Guerrier decided to cut his list down to just 10 teams and included South Carolina, Maryland, Syracuse, Vanderbilt, Minnesota, Oregon, Auburn, Creighton, Virginia Tech and Illinois. This is a pretty solid list of teams that are spread throughout the country.

Guerrier is a 6-foot-7, 190-pound small forward from Thetford Academy in Quebec City, Quebec. He is rated as a four-star recruit who is the No. 46 player in the class of 2019 and the No. 13 small forward in the nation.

This past summer was great for Guerrier and his chances of playing for a big-time program. He suited up for the Brookwood Elite AAU program. He played in 14 games for this team and dominated the Adidas Gauntlet. Guerrier finished the season averaging 24.2 points and 6.8 rebounds per game.

What impresses me about Guerrier’s game is his ability to be efficient. While he averaged 24.2 points per game, he did that while shooting 48-percent from the field and 35.7-percent from three-point land. These aren’t bad numbers by any means.

The great news for the 10 programs on this list, Guerrier plans to reclassify to the class of 2018 when he graduates from high school in December. This would make him eligible to play for the second semester, but he also mentions he would like to take a redshirt as well. Just getting into a program and getting those extra practices in as a redshirt would help this kid tremendously.

In the case of Illinois, I think a redshirt year would be best for Guerrier. The Illini could use him, but won’t need him for the rest of the 2018-2019 campaign. Having him gain experience for the following season would be crucial. I could see Guerrier coming in and potentially competing for the starting job year one. I have Kipper Nichols likely taking the nod considering he would be a senior, but Guerrier would still get a lot of playing time.

Next. Projected Illini starting lineup with Adonis De La Rosa. dark

Illinois is now in the running for a top 50 forward. Hopefully, Brad Underwood and the coaching staff can secure Guerrier’s commitment. He would be a great piece to add for the future.

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