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Illinois Basketball: Rerating every Illini recruit from the 2010s

By Rees Woodcock

CHAMPAIGN, IL - MARCH 08: Kofi Cockburn #21 of the Illinois Fighting Illini breaks up a scuffle between Da'Monte Williams #20 of the Illinois Fighting Illini and Connor McCaffery #30 of the Iowa Hawkeyes during the game at State Farm Center on March 8, 2020 in Champaign, Illinois. (Photo by Michael Hickey/Getty Images)
CHAMPAIGN, IL - MARCH 08: Kofi Cockburn #21 of the Illinois Fighting Illini breaks up a scuffle between Da'Monte Williams #20 of the Illinois Fighting Illini and Connor McCaffery #30 of the Iowa Hawkeyes during the game at State Farm Center on March 8, 2020 in Champaign, Illinois. (Photo by Michael Hickey/Getty Images) /
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CHAMPAIGN, IL – DECEMBER 03: Mike Shaw
CHAMPAIGN, IL – DECEMBER 03: Mike Shaw /

23. Mike Shaw (Old: 4-star/0.9753 – New: 3-star/0.8674)

Bruce Weber was fired in 2012 after a season that had so much potential but saw an epic collapse. One of his parting gifts to Illinois fans was a class of 2011 that featured some talented players. Mike Shaw was supposed to be one of those players.

Shaw was a 6-foot-8, 213-pound small forward coming out of De La Salle Institute and residing in Chicago, Illinois. He was rated as a four-star recruit who was the No. 63 player in the class of 2011 and the No. 13 small forward in the nation. He also had a composite rating of 0.9753.

I was impressed with Weber and what he was able to do on the recruiting front in 2010 and 2011. These were two special classes for the Illini on paper. Snagging a top 75 recruit like Shaw should have been big for the program.

Shaw ended up spending two lackluster years with Illinois. He didn’t see a single start during his time with the Illini and finished averaging 0.9 points and 1.4 rebounds per game. After his sophomore campaign, Shaw decided to transfer out of the program.

The eventual landing spot for Shaw wasn’t far away from Champaign, though. He would end up playing his final two years of college basketball with the Bradley Braves. While with the Braves, Shaw started in 10 games and averaged 1.8 points and 3.3 rebounds per contest.

The career for Shaw didn’t go as expected. He was a high four-star recruit with a rating of 0.9753. I massively downgraded him to a three-star recruit with a rating of 0.8674. The recruiting sites swung and missed on this one.

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