Illinois Basketball: Illini doing an in-home visit with Oscar Tshiebwe
The Illinois basketball team continues to try to land their first class of 2019 recruit.
It was first reported by Jake Weingarten of Stockrisers that big man Oscar Tshiebwe is going to be doing an in-home visit with the Illini this Wednesday, September 12. The tweet by Weingarten also states that Tshiebwe did in-home visits with West Virginia on Sunday and Baylor on Monday.
Tshiebwe is a 6-foot-9, 250-pound center from Kennedy Catholic High School in Hermitage, Pennsylvania. He is rated as a five-star recruit who is the No. 19 player in the class of 2019 and the No. 5 center in the nation.
It doesn’t come as a surprise that Illinois is one of the schools doing an in-home visit with Tshiebwe. The Illini made his final four about two weeks ago. This final four included Kentucky, Baylor, West Virginia and Illinois. The thing that puzzles me the most is Kentucky wasn’t included in the tweet for an in-home visit.
Illinois will complete an in-home visit this Wednesday with 2019 five-star Oscar Tshiebwe, sources tell Stockrisers.
— Jake (@jakeweingarten) September 10, 2018
Met with WVU yesterday, Baylor today, now Illini Wednesday.
Leaving out Kentucky means one of two things. Either Tshiebwe has them out of the running for his commitment or they are the team he is going to pick and doesn’t need an in-home from the Wildcats. I am hoping that it is the first scenario. Tshiebwe has also set up his official visits too.
Tshiebwe has already been on his official visit to Baylor back on August 31. He was at Illinois this past weekend. He will be visiting Kentucky on September 28 and West Virginia on October 5.
Like I mentioned in other articles about Tshiebwe, he is a wanted man in Champaign. There isn’t a single Illinois big man who has a solid grip on the No. 5 spot entering the upcoming season. The odds that a viable option moving forward emerges this season are unlikely as well. The one player I think could emerge is Samba Kane, but time will tell if he is the man for the job.
Next. 6 important official visits for the Illini. dark
With that said, if Tshiebwe decides to pick Illinois, he would be the starter from day one until he declares for the NBA Draft. This kid has some rare talent and will be special at the college level.