3. David Jones
The final player to round out the wish list would be David Jones. Just a few months ago, I wouldn’t have even thought about Jones and the Illini as a possible pairing. But there has been so much momentum for Illinois in this recruitment.
As mentioned in the previous slide, I want more wing players on the Illinois roster. Brandon Weston would be perfect at the No. 3 spot, but then adding Jones would be huge to go alongside Weston. Jones is a 6-foot-6, 195-pound small forward who is rated as a four-star recruit and ranked as the No. 91 player in the class of 2021.
Illinois would have to have some east coast pull if they wanted to land Jones. He is from Teays Valley Christian High School in West Virginia. But I think there is a legit shot we can pull this talented and athletic wing into the program.
Derek Piper of 247Sports put a Crystal Ball Prediction on Jones to go to Illinois and put a seven out of 10 confidence on the selection. If that is the case, then I would say Piper knows something that we don’t know. I would imagine Illinois has the lead for him.
Jones would come into the Illinois program and be a backup at the No. 4 spot. I would let him watch what is going on and play him some minutes in year one. By his sophomore season, I want to see Jones and Weston starting together at the No. 3 and No. 4. Hopefully, this would be with Mac Etienne at the No. 5. This would be a great team.