Illinois basketball is in the midst of landing, potentially, one of the best recruiting classes in program history.
The Illini class of 2022 is already off to a hot start. Two players are committed with Jayden Epps leading the way. He is a four-star recruit and ranked as the No. 56 player in the class. Sencire Harris, who I believe is underrated, is also a four-star recruit and is ranked as the No. 88 player in the class.
Illinois had a couple of recruits back out of their commits to Brad Underwood after the coaching staff turnover. This is going to end up being a blessing in disguise because Illinois now has room to add more players to the mix for 2022.
How can this be the best class ever for the Illinois basketball program?
Well, Illinois already has two top 90 players committed with one being a top 60 recruit. These two players are a great start to the 2022 class. But the Illini are still eyeing and are in the running for some big-time talent.
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The biggest fish still out on the recruiting trail is Cam Whitmore. He is a four-star recruit and ranked as the No. 27 player in the class of 2022. He is also the No. 6 small forward in the nation and the best player coming out of the state of Maryland.
Whitmore has taken two official visits so far, one to North Carolina on August 22 and then he visited Illinois last week on August 27. How big would a Whitmore commitment big for the Illini? If he did pick the Orange and Blue, he would be the third-highest-rated recruit since 247Sports has been keeping their rankings.
According to 247Sports, Whitmore has a composite rating of 0.9885. The only players who had a higher rating is Jereme Richmond (0.9890) and Ayo Dosunmu (0.9888). Granted, 247Sports doesn’t go back to the Dee Brown days, but this would still be an extremely impressive get for the Illini.
Whitmore isn’t the only player Illinois is eyeing right now. There are a handful of top recruits who the Illini want to wrangle in. AJ Casey is a local kid and is a top 60 recruit. Otega Oweh is a sharpshooting guard, and he is a top 110 recruit. And Cameron Corhen could be the big game of the future for the Orange and Blue, and he is a top 110 recruit as well.
The class of 2022 has a chance to be really special. Whitmore would be one of the highest-rated recruits the Illini have been able to land in over a decade. If we can add him, among others, then we could end up with one of the best classes in the country.