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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 06: General view of Illinois Fighting Illini basketballs seen before the game against the IUPUI Jaguars at State Farm Center on December 6, 2016 in Champaign, Illinois. (Photo by Michael Hickey/Getty Images) /

36. Matic Vesel (Old: NR/NR – New: 2-star/0.7241)

Toward the begging of Brad Underwood’s tenure with the Illinois basketball program, he was just trying to look for players who could fill out the roster. We didn’t have much size, so a logical move was to bring in someone like Matic Vesel.

Vesel was a 6-foot-9, 215-pound power forward coming out of Slovenia High School in Slovenia. He wasn’t rated or ranked by the recruiting sites because no one really knew about the kid. But he was built well and the Illini needed size, as previously mentioned.

In year one, Underwood used Vesel in 16 games, and he averaged 4.4 minutes per contest. In the time he saw on the floor, Vesel would average 0.4 points, 0.5 rebounds and 0.3 assists per game. The kid was raw and was used sparingly.

Vesel ended up only spending one season with the Fighting Illini. After his freshman campaign, he decided to leave the program and head back to his native land of Slovenia. This past season, Vesel averaged 9 points, 5.5 rebounds and 1.2 assists for a Slovenia professional team.

It is hard to rate anyone who only spends 16 games with the team and wasn’t rated before. I would imagine Vesel would have become serviceable at some point. I would peg him for a two-star player who had a rating of 0.7241.

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