Illinois Basketball: Illini going hard after one of the top 2022 centers

Despite losing nearly their entire coaching staff, the Illinois basketball program continues to not miss a beat on the recruiting trail.

Illinois has one commitment for 2022 so far, and that is Reggie Bass out of Tennessee. Adding to this class should be priority No. 1. The Illini will need to find a great replacement for Kofi Cockburn, and someone like Kel’el Ware could be the next man up.

Ware is a 6-foot-11, 210-pound center from North Little Rock High School and resides in North Little Rock, Arkansas. He is rated as a four-star recruit and ranked as the No. 29 player in the class of 2022. He is also the No. 4 center in the nation and the second-best player coming out of Arkansas.

The scholarship offers have piled up for Ware, as the big man has roughly 20 offers on the table right now. But Illinois was one of the first to see his talent. The Illini came in with an offer to Ware back on June 16, 2020. It looks like Brad Underwood has kept on the talented big man throughout the recruiting process as well.

According to Tipton Edits, Ware mentioned a list of schools that were recruiting him the hardest. The list included Texas, USC, Baylor, Oregon, Oklahoma State, Ole Miss, Memphis, Arkansas and Illinois. Having the Illini front of mind with these big-time recruits is encouraging to see.

What would a Ware commitment mean to Illinois basketball?

I am not sure what Illinois is going to do about the No. 5 spot moving forward. The need to have a suitable No. 5 after Kofi Cockburn is extreme.

Omar Payne might be an okay option, but I haven’t seen him play a game with the Illini. There is no telling what he is going to turn into for the Orange and Blue. So, having someone like Ware come in would be incredible for this program.

Ware would start from day one and have a path much like Kofi. He would be the centerpiece for a talented Illini squad. We have a point guard in Andre Curbelo, so all we would need is a nice big man like Ware to make another run to the NCAA tournament.