Illinois Basketball: 2024 Florida forward receives Illini offer

The Illinois basketball coaching staff has been busy this week when it comes to recruiting.

In addition to the Illini having a few big-time visitors on campus, the coaching staff has also been offering scholarships to important pieces for the future. One of those pieces is Asa Newell.

Newell is a 6-foot-8 forward from Choctawhatchee High School and resides in Fort Walton Beach, Florida. He isn’t rated or ranked just yet, but the 2024 big man should start somewhere in the top 150 nationally.

On Monday, Illinois came in with their offer to Newell. They weren’t the first program to take an interest in the Florida native, though. Oklahoma State, Ole Miss, and Georgia Tech had all extended an offer to Newell in the past couple of months. As time goes on, the floodgates should open and more offers will be in the hands of Newell.

Newell would bring a well-balanced game to the Illinois basketball program.

Basketball is currently in the cycle of having every big man be able to shoot the ball. Having a 6-foot-8 or bigger player who can step out and take a three-pointer is something programs look for in a recruit.

Newell can bring the three-point shooting to the table. He has the ability to use his southpaw shooting stroke to knock down shots from anywhere on the basketball court. At 6-foot-8, he is an unguardable threat, especially at the high school level.

While Newell’s three-point shooting is fun to have, it is just one of his many weapons. Newell is an extremely well-balanced player on the court.

I love the ability of Newell to get into the paint and finish at the rim. Even when he doesn’t get the ball in the hoop, he has the size to get the rebound and put it back up.

An underrated part of Newell’s game is his defensive abilities. The kid is long for the high school level, so he is going to dominate. But I think he is extremely smart with his defensive approach. Newell has great timing on his shot-blocking as well.

Overall, I love this offer by Illinois. Clearly, Newell has talent or he wouldn’t have four high-level offers on the table. Keep an eye on the recruiting sites to see where Newell starts his journey. I would venture to say he is going to flirt with the top 100.