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Illinois Basketball: 3 effects of the Illini cracking the top 25

By Rees Woodcock

CHAMPAIGN, IL - JANUARY 11: Illinois Fighting Illini graduate assistant Kwa Jones high fives Illinois Fighting Illini center Kofi Cockburn (21) during player introductions before the start of the Big Ten Conference college basketball game between the Rutgers Scarlet Knights and the Illinois Fighting Illini on January 11, 2020, at the State Farm Center in Champaign, Illinois. (Photo by Michael Allio/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
CHAMPAIGN, IL - JANUARY 11: Illinois Fighting Illini graduate assistant Kwa Jones high fives Illinois Fighting Illini center Kofi Cockburn (21) during player introductions before the start of the Big Ten Conference college basketball game between the Rutgers Scarlet Knights and the Illinois Fighting Illini on January 11, 2020, at the State Farm Center in Champaign, Illinois. (Photo by Michael Allio/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) /
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CHAMPAIGN, IL – JANUARY 11: Illinois Fighting Illini assistant coaches Orlando Antigua and Ron Coleman and Illinois Fighting Illini forward Giorgi Bezhanishvili (15) look on during the Big Ten Conference college basketball game between the Rutgers Scarlet Knights and the Illinois Fighting Illini on January 11, 2020, at the State Farm Center in Champaign, Illinois. (Photo by Michael Allio/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
CHAMPAIGN, IL – JANUARY 11: Illinois Fighting Illini assistant coaches Orlando Antigua and Ron Coleman and Illinois Fighting Illini forward Giorgi Bezhanishvili (15) look on during the Big Ten Conference college basketball game between the Rutgers Scarlet Knights and the Illinois Fighting Illini on January 11, 2020, at the State Farm Center in Champaign, Illinois. (Photo by Michael Allio/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) /

2. The promise of winning is paying off

I would imagine the recruiting trail gets extremely difficult if you aren’t winning games. You don’t have the proof of concept to help land these big-time recruits.

Somehow, Brad Underwood and his coaching staff were able to pull in some big-time recruits like Ayo Dosunmu and Kofi Cockburn to lead this team without having the wins on the board. Illinois wasn’t winning games at a high clip before this season, but this coaching staff was able to do wonders on the recruiting trail.

Illinois landing in the top 25 means that the promise of winning is paying off. The recruiting pitch that if you come to Champaign we will win in the future is coming true. Ayo and Kofi came to Illinois and are winning basketball games. They have us ranked for the first time in a half-decade.

Landing in the top 25 will help tremendously on the recruiting trail. That promise of winning that is coming true will only solidify the words that Underwood and his coaching staff are saying in each of the homes of these recruits. A solid word goes a long way with anyone.

So, being in the top 25 means this program is winning. Illinois winning basketball games is proving to recruits that you can come to Champaign and be successful. This is the start of something special.

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