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Illinois Basketball: Illini offer rising recruit Jalen Bridges

ByRees 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)

Getting another wing player is important for the Illinois basketball team, and that is why they offered this next big-time recruit.

Heading into this upcoming season, Illinois has a couple of wing players on the team who can do some damage at times. Tevian Jones is a rising talent who will be a sophomore. Kipper Nichols had a disappointing junior campaign but should be better in 2019-2020. But, when the class of 2020 rolls around, Nichols will have graduate and Jones will be a junior. Illinois will need more wing help. Getting someone like Jalen Bridges would solve this problem.

Bridges is a 6-foot-7, 180-pound small forward from Fairmont High School in Fairmont, West Virginia. He is rated as a four-star recruit who is the No. 106 player in the class of 2020 and the No. 25 small forward in the nation. He is also the No. 4 player in the state of West Virginia as well.

The recruitment of Bridges has really started to pick up as his notoriety continues to grow. It looks like he was a member of the class of 2019 but decided to reclassify this past fall to the class of 2020. He will also be transferring to Scotland Campus prep school to finish out his last year of high school basketball as well.

Bridges’ game is impressive. He has shown why he belongs with the best of the best in the nation. He also won the award for the top high school basketball player in West Virginia as well. The accolades are piling up and so are his scholarship offers. Just in the last few weeks, Bridges has received offers from the likes of Pittsburgh, TCU and Xavier, in addition to the offer from the Illini.

I like what Bridges can do on the basketball court. The kid has length which will make it tough for opposing offenses to score when he is guarding them. He is able to get to the rim and finish as well. This is an asset I always look for in high school recruits. Bridges can put up numbers as well. Last season, he averaged 22.2 points, 6.3 rebounds, 2 blocks, 1.9 steals and 1.8 assists per game. He can do everything.

Illinois getting in on the Bridges sweepstakes is a good idea. There is room on the team for a player of his caliber. Hopefully, we can make some noise here.

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