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Illinois Basketball: Illini move one step closer to landing Oscar Tshiebwe

By Rees Woodcock

PISCATAWAY, NJ - FEBRUARY 25: Illinois Fighting Illini head coach Brad Underwood during the first half of the College Basketball Game between the Rutgers Scarlet Knights and the Illinois Fighting Illini on February 25, 2018, at the Louis Brown Athletic Center in Piscataway, NJ. (Photo by Rich Graessle/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
PISCATAWAY, NJ - FEBRUARY 25: Illinois Fighting Illini head coach Brad Underwood during the first half of the College Basketball Game between the Rutgers Scarlet Knights and the Illinois Fighting Illini on February 25, 2018, at the Louis Brown Athletic Center in Piscataway, NJ. (Photo by Rich Graessle/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) /
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Some huge Illinois basketball recruiting news came out on Friday afternoon.

The Illini have been targeting big man Oscar Tshiebwe for a while now and their hard work looks like it is starting to pay off. Tshiebwe announced that he will be taking an official visit to Champaign on the weekend of September 7. This is one week after his first official visit which is to Baylor on August 31.

Tshiebwe is a pretty big recruit for the future of the Illinois program. He is a 6-foot-9, 230-pound center from Kennedy Catholic High School in Hermitage, Pennsylvania. He is rated as a five-star recruit who is the No. 19 payer in the class of 2019 and the No. 5 center in the nation.

I see some people worried this is going to be a wasted official visit, but I think that is crazy talk. Tshiebwe felt comfortable enough with Brad Underwood and the Illinois coaching staff to take a visit to Champaign. That is a great thing. Now, Underwood will be able to pitch him what he wants to pitch him. This is Underwood’s chance to close the deal on a big-time player.

In addition to Underwood getting a chance to show Tshiebwe how great Illinois would be as a college destination, he can also pitch him about where he would fit on the team. With Tshiebwe’s size, athletic ability and overall talent, he would start day one for the Illini at the No. 5 spot. His presence on the court would take this team from solid NCAA tournament team to a potential Sweet 16 contender or better.

The playing time Tshiebwe would receive is going to help him get to the NBA as well. He is going to get the bulk of the work at the No. 5, and this will enable him to show off the talent he brings to the court on national television. You really can’t get much better than that.

Next. Class of 2019 that would work best for the Illini. dark

As of right now, Tshiebwe is No. 1 on my big board for Illinois recruiting. They could build a great class of 2019 around him. Every recruiting resource Illinois has should be dumped into this talented center.

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