Illinois Basketball: Illini extend offer to 2021 PG Jaylen Blakes

The Illinois basketball recruiting train keeps on moving, as the Orange and Blue offered 2021 four-star point guard, Jaylen Blakes.

Even though the basketball season is already in full swing, the Illini have its sights set on the future and maintaining yearly success under head coach Brad Underwood. Underwood and his staff are looking to salvage its 2021 class, as Illinois offered four-star point guard, Jaylen Blakes.

Blakes hails from Blair Academy High School in Blairstown, New Jersey, as he holds a plethora of offers from some well-known power-five and mid-major schools. Including a late-Monday night offer from the Illini, Blakes has looks from Texas, Rutgers, Georgia, Penn State, Yale, Stanford, Saint John’s, Georgetown, UConn, and DePaul, to name a few.

At 6-foot-2, 195 pounds, Blakes has become a highly-touted recruit on a national level. Ranked as the No. 3 player in New Jersey and the No. 16 point guard in the nation, Blakes has turned some heads throughout his high school basketball career thus far.

Blakes helped guide the Bucs to a 19-4 finish in 2019, including a second-place finish in league play at 4-2 as a member of the Mid-Atlantic Prep A Conference. The team would lose its opening playoff game to St. Benedictine’s Prep, 68-66, which snapped a four-game win streak entering the postseason.

Blakes was grateful to suit up for a team that finished in the top ten for prep schools across the nation, along with improving his overall game in the process.

"“Finishing the season ranked 7th in the country for Prep schools and with a league championship feels great,” Blakes said in an interview with HoopGroup.com. “I love going to battle with this team as we had a very competitive schedule and overcame several challenges this season. We had to deal with several injuries and a lot of comeback victories. Day in and out we played tough, we gave it our all and we had each other’s back. No matter the challenge presented we fought our way through it, we are a family.”"

Unfortunately for Blakes and many others, high school sports across the state of New Jersey were banned beginning November 10 due to surging COVID-19 cases. Therefore, there is no sufficient timetable on if basketball or other winter sports can resume, even at all.

What would a Jaylen Blakes commitment mean for Illinois?

At this point, any help Illinois can get is a great thing, considering that Luke Goode is the team’s primary lock for the 2021 season.

While Blakes has plenty of schools interested, the Illini are looking to maintain success after Ayo Dosunmu and Kofi Cockburn officially depart for the NBA Draft. Coach Underwood has rebuilt the program once before, and Blakes could wind up being a centerpiece if Champaign is his landing spot.

Check out Blakes’ junior season highlights above, as he averaged 18.2 points, 4 rebounds, and 3.5 assists per game.

Let’s see if the Illini can win out and snag a late recruit prior to the beginning of the 2021 season, hopefully with a sense of normalcy.