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Illinois Basketball: 5 biggest misses in the last 5 Illini recruiting classes

By Rees Woodcock

Feb 7, 2020; Champaign, Illinois, USA; The national anthem is preformed prior to the first half before a game between the Illinois Fighting Illini and the Maryland Terrapins at State Farm Center. Mandatory Credit: Patrick Gorski-USA TODAY Sports
Feb 7, 2020; Champaign, Illinois, USA; The national anthem is preformed prior to the first half before a game between the Illinois Fighting Illini and the Maryland Terrapins at State Farm Center. Mandatory Credit: Patrick Gorski-USA TODAY Sports /
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Mar 11, 2020; New York, New York, USA; DePaul Blue Demons guard Charlie Moore (11) drives against Xavier Musketeers forwards Tyrique Jones (4) and Zach Freemantle (32) during the first half in the Big East tournament at Madison Square Garden. Mandatory Credit: Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports
Mar 11, 2020; New York, New York, USA; DePaul Blue Demons guard Charlie Moore (11) drives against Xavier Musketeers forwards Tyrique Jones (4) and Zach Freemantle (32) during the first half in the Big East tournament at Madison Square Garden. Mandatory Credit: Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports /

5. Charlie Moore – Class of 2016

The player taking the No. 5 spot on this list is Charlie Moore. One of the weirder recruitments I have seen in my years, Moore could have easily ended up at Illinois, but it was never the right place.

Checking in as a four-star recruit who was the No. 71 player in the class of 2016, Moore had a ton of recruiting attention. Being the No. 16 point guard in the country and the best player coming out of the state of Illinois, he had a pick of roughly 23 programs, one of which was the Fighting Illini.

At the time, John Groce was recruiting Moore. Groce did not have the best connection to the city of Chicago, a traditional hotbed for national recruiting. I would actually say that during the Groce era, Illinois’ position within the Chicago recruiting scene grew weaker and weaker.

On May 18, 2016, Illinois lost out and Moore decided to pick California as his next landing spot. This was a blow to Illini recruiting, but they would actually have another chance at the top 100 point guard.

After just one year with the Golden Bears, Moore transferred out and was looking for a new program. This time, Illinois had first-year head coach Brad Underwood at the helm. With no previous relationship with Moore, it was going to be hard to land him a second time around.

Moore would end up picking national power, Kansas, as his next stop. Oh, but this wasn’t the last time we would hear about Moore. He sat out a season and then played one year with the Jayhawks. After that one season with Kansas, Moore decided to transfer again.

The landing spot for the third time would be DePaul. The Blue Demons snagged the nomad player and, somehow, he was eligible to play immediately for the program.

Moore undeniably has a lot of talent as he put up 15.5 points, 6.1 assists, 3.3 rebounds and 1.5 steals per game this past season with DePaul. But something about Illinois clearly turned him off because he had three opportunities to come to Champaign. Sometimes it is just not meant to be.

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