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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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March 10, 2020; Las Vegas, NV, USA; Gonzaga Bulldogs forward Drew Timme (2) shoots the basketball against Saint Mary’s Gaels forward Kyle Bowen (14) during the first half during the championship game in the WCC Basketball Tournament at Orleans Arena. Mandatory Credit: Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports
March 10, 2020; Las Vegas, NV, USA; Gonzaga Bulldogs forward Drew Timme (2) shoots the basketball against Saint Mary’s Gaels forward Kyle Bowen (14) during the first half during the championship game in the WCC Basketball Tournament at Orleans Arena. Mandatory Credit: Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports /

4. Drew Timme – Class of 2019

Drew Timme is a player who Illinois had a shot at for a brief moment but ultimately lost out. He checks in as the No. 4 miss for the Illini over the past five recruiting classes.

Timme was one of the best players coming out of the class of 2019. Rated as a four-star recruit and ranked as the No. 10 center in the nation, Timme was a wanted man. You would think the state of Texas would be able to keep him home as he was the No. 6 player in the state that year. But that was not the case.

Brad Underwood was coming off a great class of 2018 that featured a game-changing point guard in Ayo Dosunmu. He needed a big man and Timme looked like a great option. Illinois was in the mix for the Richardson, Texas native too.

Timme ended up taking four official visits during his recruitment. He visited Texas A&M on September 7, Gonzaga on October 5 and Alabama on October 12. The final official visit went to the Illini on October 19. Usually, snagging the final official visit bodes well for that team.

On November 14, Timme decided to pick a program and went with the Bulldogs of Gonzaga. This was a big loss for Illini considering there was no clear path for a big man at the time. Timme was supposed to be that No. 5 spot for the 2019-2020 campaign.

Timme would go on to have a solid freshman season with Gonzaga. He averaged 9.8 points, 5.4 rebounds and 1.3 assists per game in year one. I look for Timme to have an even better sophomore season as Gonzaga will look to him for more production as he matures.

Illinois, on the other hand, ended up doing pretty well for themselves. Missing out of Timme was a blessing in disguise. Just a couple of months later, on January 6, Kofi Cockburn decided to pick Illinois over a myriad of programs. He would go on to average 13.3 points and 8.8 rebounds per game as a freshman.

Sometimes recruiting misses are painful and hurts the program tremendously. Other times, like this one, it was the best thing to happen to the Illinois basketball program. If we landed Timme, we probably were not going to land Kofi. I would not trade Kofi for anyone in the world.

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