Illinois Basketball: Illini target EJ Liddell sets commitment date

The Illinois basketball team will soon find out if they have landed one of their main targets for the class of 2019.

On Saturday night, EJ Liddell took to Twitter to announce that he will be committing to a program on Monday night at 6:00 PM Central Time. This is when he will make a decision between either Missouri, Ohio State and Illinois.

Liddell is a 6-foot-7, 220-pound power forward from Belleville West High School in Belleville, Illinois. He is rated as a four-star recruit who is the No. 48 player in the class of 2019 and the No. 10 power forward in the nation. This isn’t just any regular recruit for the Illini, though. They need Liddell for many reasons.

The Illini need size in the paint, and Liddell would be able to play the No. 4 position for this program moving forward. He isn’t your typical bigger player either. This kid can jump out of the gym and create some serious mismatches for the opposing team.

I think this decision is massive for the Illini because of the impact it would have on recruiting. Not only would Liddell be a big commitment on the court but if he does pick Illinois, that would give Brad Underwood the top overall recruit in the state of Illinois for back-to-back classes.

In the class of 2018, Underwood was able to snap Ayo Dosunmu who was ranked No. 1 player in the state. Liddell would be the next big in-state recruit. He is also rated No. 1 overall in the class of 2019. That recruiting impact on the program would be invaluable.

Monday night is going to either go down as a great moment for the Illinois basketball team and their fan base, or it is going to go down as a bad moment where most fans will worry about what is going to happen for the class of 2019. Some people will also question what Underwood is doing as a coach.

I sure hope it is a great night for the Illini. We need to add to the class of 2019 and starting with Liddell would be huge. This could be the start of something special.