Illinois Basketball: Wisconsin AAU pipeline trying to be established by Illini

The way the Illinois basketball team is going to look over the next couple of seasons fascinates me.

Illinois is losing so much talent this offseason. We are not going to look like the same team we saw don the No. 1 seed this past NCAA tournament. The change will continue to happen throughout the next couple of years as well. That is why landing some talented players for the class of 2022 is so important.

Just a few days ago, back on April 2, Illinois came in with an offer to Seth Trimble. He is a 6-foot-3, 185-pound point guard from Menomonee Falls High School and resides in Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin. The talented guard is rated as a four-star recruit and ranked as the No. 80 player in the class of 2022. He is also the No. 14 point guard in the nation and the best player coming out of Wisconsin.

This is an offer that would help the Illini in the near future, but there are a ton of teams already after Trimble’s services. He has roughly 10 scholarship offers right now, and they are all from pretty big programs. I am sure more teams will come in with offers in the near future as well.

What would Trimble bring to the Illinois basketball program?

First off, let me say that Trimble has a little Andre Curbelo in him. He is a tornado on the floor, and he plays with controlled chaos. The ability to improvise is phenomenal as well. Trimble’s shooting might not be fully there just yet, but he has the “it” factor that I want in a point guard. This kid looks and feels like a winner.

Illinois is clearly trying to establish a solid recruiting pipeline through the AAU program, Phenom University. Their main target for 2021 is Brandin Podziemski. The Illini are in the top five for him. Now they are after Trimble for 2022. Trying to build this pipeline is a great idea for Brad Underwood.

I think we are a little way out from Trimble making any college decision, but this kid would be an instant impact player from day one. I could see him coming in and being the primary backup to Curbelo in 2022. I see Curbelo leaving after that season and then Trimble would take over as a sophomore. This seems like the most legit path for the superstar guard.

Building that relationship is extremely important right now for the Illini. Let’s continue trying to pick out the great talent from the Midwest. Let’s own this part of the map.