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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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PISCATAWAY, NJ – FEBRUARY 25: Te’Jon Lucas #3 of the Illinois Fighting Illini in action against the Rutgers Scarlet Knights during the first half of a game at Rutgers Athletic Center on February 25, 2018 in Piscataway, New Jersey. Illinois defeated Rutgers 75-62. (Photo by Rich Schultz/Getty Images)
PISCATAWAY, NJ – FEBRUARY 25: Te’Jon Lucas #3 of the Illinois Fighting Illini in action against the Rutgers Scarlet Knights during the first half of a game at Rutgers Athletic Center on February 25, 2018 in Piscataway, New Jersey. Illinois defeated Rutgers 75-62. (Photo by Rich Schultz/Getty Images) /

15. Te’Jon Lucas (Old: 3-star/0.9075 – New: 4-star/0.9287)

While the class of 2015 was something special on paper, you couldn’t say the same about the class of 2016. Illinois only signed one player in this class and ended up with a national ranking of No. 110. But I still liked the fact we were able to land Te’Jon Lucas.

Lucas was a 6-foot, 155-pound point guard coming out of Washington Information Technology High School and resided in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. He was rated as a three-star recruit who was the No. 138 player in the class of 2016 and the No. 28 point guard in the nation. He also had a composite rating of 0.9075.

Illinois was able to land Lucas in John Groce’s final season with the team. Despite the turmoil, the young point guard performed well. He averaged 4.8 points, 3.1 assists and 1.9 rebounds per game as a freshman. Even with the coaching change, Lucas stuck around for the first year of the Brad Underwood regime.

As a sophomore, Lucas built on his numbers from the year before. He finished his second year with the Illini averaging 5.7 points, 3.2 assists and 2.2 rebounds per game. Sadly, after his sophomore campaign, Lucas decided to head back home.

Lucas would pick Milwaukee as his next destination. After sitting out a season due to NCAA transfer rules, he was able to suit up for the Panthers this past season. Lucas ended up averaging 14.6 points, 5.1 assists, 4.3 rebounds and 1.9 steals per game as a junior. Those are impressive numbers.

I would love to have seen Lucas stay with the Illini. But he has gone on to do some solid work with Milwaukee. He entered the Illinois program as a three-star with a rating of 0.9075. I believe he is better than that rating. I would have him as a four-star with a rating of 0.9287.

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