Illinois Basketball: Illini extends offer to class of 2023 Baye Fall

An offer has been extended to class of 2023 big, Baye Fall, who would be a huge addition to the Illinois basketball program.

Fall, a 6-foot-11 five-star center from Colorado, is the latest recruit to receive an offer from Illinois. The announcement was made via Twitter on October 18 by a local reporter. After just one season, Fall is already considered one of the nation’s top prospects.

The center is just a sophomore at Lutheran-Parker High School in Parker, Colorado but has garnered much interest from major programs and for good reason. Fall has already received offers from schools such as Kansas, Georgetown, and Memphis.

According to 247 sports, Fall is the No. 1 center in the nation for the class of 2023. The big man, who is originally from the country of Senegal, moved to the United States in February of 2019. Despite the difficult transition off the court, on the court, the center has not missed a beat. In his freshman year, the center averaged an eye-popping 19 points and 10.5 rebounds per game.

Where would he fit into the Illini basketball program?

The Illini are going to have to pull out all the stops to land Fall. This type of player is a program changer. Period. The Illini currently have big man Kofi Cockburn, but Cockburn will be gone by the time Fall is in Champaign-Urbana.

Illinois currently does not have any center commits. However, they have been working on recruiting several big men including class of 2021 center, Mac Etienne. Despite this, the Illini would certainly find playing time for Fall if Etienne were to commit and stay at Illinois.

Regardless of where he lands, Fall is going to be one of the best players to come out of the class of 2023. We can only hope he picks the Illini basketball program as his home, but we will have several years to watch how this develops.