Illinois basketball will have a few spots open when the 2022-23 campaign rolls around, so loading up on some great talent is a priority for the program.
There are numerous options for the Illini still on the market. Even though we lost our top three assistants, the new additions to the program seem to be doing well. One recruit we could end up landing for 2022 is east coast talent, Cam Whitmore.
Whitmore is a 6-foot-6, 200-pound small forward from Archbishop Spalding High School and resides in Severn, Maryland. He is rated as a four-star recruit and ranked as the No. 110 player in the class of 2022. He is also the No. 24 small forward in the nation and the No. 5 player coming out of the state of Maryland.
2022 Cam Whitmore |@_camwhitmore_| of Team Melo @TeamMe7oEYBL continued to impress as an elite athlete with good playmaking ability at the Southern Jamfest
— Endless Motor Sports (@endless_motor) May 28, 2021
Notre Dame, Georgetown, Virginia Tech, Illinois, Miami, Villanova, Pitt, UNC, Michigan, Penn State, Maryland all in the mix pic.twitter.com/fMPHqYR4xH
Thanks to Chester Frazier joining the Illinois coaching staff, a new avenue of recruits has opened up to the program. Whitmore is one of those recruits. Illinois offered him a scholarship just a week ago, and now there are reports the Illini are in the mix for the 6-foot-6 forward.
In a post on Friday by Endless Motor Sports, they showed a video of Whitmore and his talents. They wrote that teams like Notre Dame, Georgetown, Virginia Tech, Miami, Villanova, Pittsburgh, North Carolina, Michigan, Penn State, Maryland and Illinois are all in the mix for him. Whitmore would then retweet the Endless Motor Sports post.
Illinois basketball might have a chance at landing Whitmore.
I am not saying that the Illini are frontrunners for the east coast recruit but having Frazier onboard is what gives me hope in landing Whitmore. Frazier was recruiting the kid when he was at Virginia Tech, and now he brings that relationship to the Orange and Blue.
Another thing Illinois has going for them in the Whitmore race is available playing time. We are losing so much talent after the 2021-22 campaign. Jacob Grandison, Austin Hutcherson, Alfonso Plummer, Trent Frazier and Da’Monte Williams will all be departing. That leaves so much playing time available at the No. 2 through No. 4 spots in the Illinois lineup.
I love that Illinois is getting in the mix for players we weren’t previously in the running for before the coaching turnover. Landing someone like Whitmore would be a great first get for Frazier as an Illinois coach. Let’s see how this one plays out.