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Illinois Basketball: 5 recruits who could lead the Illini to a national title

By Rees Woodcock

CHAMPAIGN, IL - DECEMBER 06: General view of Illinois Fighting Illini basketballs seen before the game against the IUPUI Jaguars at State Farm Center on December 6, 2016 in Champaign, Illinois. (Photo by Michael Hickey/Getty Images)
CHAMPAIGN, IL - DECEMBER 06: General view of Illinois Fighting Illini basketballs seen before the game against the IUPUI Jaguars at State Farm Center on December 6, 2016 in Champaign, Illinois. (Photo by Michael Hickey/Getty Images) /
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TULSA, OK – MARCH 20: A view of the ball during the third round game between the Illinois Fighting Illini and the Kansas Jayhawks in the 2011 NCAA men’s basketball tournament at BOK Center on March 20, 2011 in Tulsa, Oklahoma. (Photo by Ronald Martinez/Getty Images) /

3. Matas Buzelis

Now it is time to look at the 2023 class and the riches this group of players could bring to the Illinois basketball program. One of the biggest targets who could lead the Illini to the national title is Matas Buzelis.

Buzelis is a 6-foot-10, 175-pound small forward from Brewster Academy and resides in Wolfeboro, New Hampshire. He is rated as a four-star recruit and ranked as the No. 43 player in the class of 2023. He is also the No. 10 small forward in the nation and the No. 2 player coming out of New Hampshire.

The name Buzelis is familiar with many Illinois fans who follow recruiting. While he is listed as playing for Brewster Academy, Buzelis has suited up for the Mac Irvin Fire AAU program for quite some time now. This AAU program is the recruiting pipeline that produced players like Ayo Dosunmu and Da’Monte Williams, to name a few.

Illinois’ coaching staff has been cranking up the heat on the Buzelis recruitment as of late. Just in the past week, Brad Underwood was in to see Buzelis at his high school. The resources are being put in to recruit this talented forward, so it seems there is a shot to land him.

The roster for the Orange and Blue would get a boost if Buzelis did come to Champaign. Let’s hypothetically say Illinois lands one of the two from the 2022 class in the previous two slides. The Illini lineup could look like this; Andre Curbelo (4-star), Brandin Podziemski (4-star), Cam Whitmore (5-star), RJ Melendez (4-star), and Buzelis (4-star). I would move Buzelis over to the No. 5 spot even though he is more of a No. 4.

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