Illinois Basketball: Predicting who makes DJ Steward’s top 8

The Illinois basketball team might be getting some good news on the recruiting front later this week.

On Monday night, Illini target DJ Steward announced on Twitter that he will be cutting his list down to eight teams on August 1. There is nothing concrete on who will make this top list, but one could speculate there are few teams who will likely be there on come Thursday.

Steward is obviously a wanted recruit. He is a 6-foot-3, 165-pound combo guard from Whitney Young High School in Chicago, Illinois. He is rated as a four-star recruit who is the No. 27 player in the class of 2020 and the No. 6 combo guard in the nation. He is also the No. 1 player in the state of Illinois.

So far, Steward has roughly 19 scholarship offers according to 247Sports. That number is probably off considering how good this kid is and how he could play for any team in the country. But who are we potentially looking at for his top list?

Steward has already taken an official visit to Texas back on June 7. I would imagine they are in the top eight. Both Duke and North Carolina just offered him a scholarship in the last two weeks, but they are both blue-bloods and pack a punch. I would put these two teams in the top eight. That leaves five teams remaining.

Let’s take a look at unofficial visits. He visited Louisville on June 27. It always seems like the Cardinals are in the recruitment of every Chicago kid. I have them in Steward’s top eight. I think there will be some local programs in there too. I believe Northwestern is going to make his top eight as well as Marquette.

The last two spots in Steward’s top eight I have going to Arizona and Illinois. It doesn’t seem like there is a ton of traction with Arizona, but they always seem to be there for these type of recruits too. The Illini should be in the top eight considering they are making Steward a top priority. They want him, and he has taken multiple unofficial visits to Champaign.

So, my prediction for Steward’s top eight that comes out on Thursday is Texas, Duke, North Carolina, Louisville, Northwestern, Marquette, Arizona and Illinois. Any of these programs would be lucky to have this kid. He has superstar written all over him.