Illinois Basketball: Illini trying to get stronghold on in-state recruiting

Since Brad Underwood took the reins of the Illinois basketball program, the state of Illinois recruiting has started to change.

March 18, 2017, Illinois decides to tab Underwood as the next head coach of the Illini after letting go John Groce. Whatever happened with the class of 2017 during that time, good or bad, I can’t put on the shoulders of Underwood.

Illinois had two players de-commit and go to different programs. The big commitment they did sign after Underwood was hired, Mark Smith, has now transferred out of the program. The one in-state player that the Illini were able to get and is still with the team is Da’Monte Williams. Watch out for Monte this season as the coaching staff seems excited about his potential.

All in all, I am not putting the class of 2017 on the shoulders of Underwood. I give him a pass on that class. His recruiting started in the class of 2018. This is a class he could cultivate to fit his needs and what he wants for the program. This is also a class that could do something that the previous coaching regime failed to do.

In Underwood’s first true class – the class of 2018 – he was able to land Ayo Dosunmu. Dosunmu was ranked as the No. 1 player in the state of Illinois. Illinois fans haven’t been able to witness the Illini snag the best overall player from a class since 2010. Yes, I repeat, the last class for Illinois to garner the No. 1 player in the state was in 2010. This was the Illini class that had the No. 1 player in Jereme Richmond, No. 2 player Meyers Leonard and the No. 3 player Crandall Head.

While this class turned out to be a bust for the program, minus Leonard, it was also the last time Illinois landed the top in-state recruit. Underwood ended that drought in 2018, though, and he might do it again in 2019 as well.

This weekend, Illinois is hosting a trio of players who could change the program around completely. The highest rated player in the class of 2019 in this group is Oscar Tshiebwe. He is a five-star recruit from Pennsylvania. The other two players who are visiting are EJ Liddell and Terrence Shannon.

Both Liddell and Shannon are four-star recruits who are from opposite ends of the state. Liddell resides in Belleville, Illinois and Shannon is up in Chicago. These two would be huge pieces for the Illini as they try to get back to the promise land that we all witnessed just 13 years ago. Landing these two would mean a lot in the recruiting game as well.

Not only did Underwood land the top recruit in the state of Illinois in 2018, but he now has a chance to land the top two in-state recruits for 2019. Liddell is ranked as the No. 1 player in the state of Illinois and Shannon is the No. 2 player. This would be a rarity for the Illini to be able to land the best in-state players in back-to-back recruiting classes and then add the No. 2 best player in the class of 2019.

So, this weekend was always going to be huge for the program. Having these three players come to campus gives the Illini fan base hope for the future. The icing on the cake is the potential to land the top two players in the state for 2019 and take back the recruiting hold on the state of Illinois.