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Illinois Basketball: Illini have a lot to offer during Drew Timme in-home visit

ByRees Woodcock|
CHAMPAIGN, IL - JANUARY 30: Head coach Brad Underwood of the Illinois Fighting Illini is seen before the game against the Rutgers Scarlet Knights at State Farm Center on January 30, 2018 in Champaign, Illinois. (Photo by Michael Hickey/Getty Images)
CHAMPAIGN, IL - JANUARY 30: Head coach Brad Underwood of the Illinois Fighting Illini is seen before the game against the Rutgers Scarlet Knights at State Farm Center on January 30, 2018 in Champaign, Illinois. (Photo by Michael Hickey/Getty Images)

Today is a pretty big day for the Illinois basketball team as they try to build their program into a contender once again.

Illinois will be in to see big-time center Drew Timme today. They are doing an in-home visit as first reported by Jake Weingarten of Stockrisers.com. Weingarten also says Texas A&M is also going to be in to visit Timme today as well. This is big news for both the Illini and the Aggies.

Timme is a 6-foot-9, 210-pound center from Pearce High School in Richardson, Texas. He is rated as a four-star recruit who is the No. 41 player in the class of 2019 and the No. 11 center in the nation. He is also down to his top 10 which includes Oklahoma, Michigan State, Alabama, Arizona, Louisville, Purdue, Gonzaga, Texas A&M, Texas Tech and Illinois.

So far, Timme has only been on one official visit and that was to Texas A&M on September 7. He does not have another official visit set up just yet, though. The fact Timme came away from the visit with the Aggies and didn’t commit is a good sign for the Illini. I would imagine they are pitching a few things today at the in-home visit.

Illinois’ main offering to Timme would be immediate playing time. Based on his size, I would assume most programs would slot him in at the No. 5 spot. But, I think Illinois will end up playing him at the No. 4 spot and then snagging a more traditional No. 5’s in the class of 2019. Most of the lines Illinois has out right now are for big men.

Another pitch I think Illinois should be making is the progress that Leron Black made in the one season with the program. Black is a little shorter than Timme, but he played a similar role for the Illini. He went from averaging 8.1 points per game to 15.3 PPG in the lone year under Brad Underwood. That is an impressive improvement.

Illinois needs to land a few big-time big men from the class of 2019. Timme would be a great fit for what Underwood wants to do on the court. He would be a huge pickup for this program.

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