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Illinois Basketball: Top 5 Illini recruiting targets for 2023 after missing on Owen Freeman

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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Dec 5, 2020; Champaign, Illinois, USA; The exterior of State Farm Center is seen following the cancellation of a basketball game between the Tennessee-Martin Skyhawks and Illinois Fighting Illini basketball game due to COVID-19 concerns. Mandatory Credit: Patrick Gorski-USA TODAY Sports /

4. Jeremy Fears Jr.

Life after Andre Curbelo is something I don’t like to think about. But it will be a reality sooner than later. Having a solid replacement for Curbelo will be important. That is why a player like Jeremy Fears would be huge for the program.

Fears is a 6-foot-1, 165-pound point guard from La Lumiere School and resides in La Porte, Indiana. He is rated as a four-star recruit and ranked as the No. 20 player in the class of 2023. He is also the No. 6 point guard in the nation and the best player coming out of Indiana.

You can count on one hand the talent Illinois has pulled out of Indiana in the past decade. It is pretty much Jalen Coleman Lands and Luke Goode. While the Illini have been able to land a couple of players from the Hoosier State, thankfully, Fears isn’t originally from Indiana.

In 2020, Fears transferred out of Joliet West High School in Illinois. He decided to go play for La Lumiere, which is a prep school in northwest Indiana, pretty close to the Michigan border. But the fact Fears is from Illinois gives the Illini a nice recruiting chip.

Just think about how deep the state of Illinois could have been for the 2023 class. There is so much in-state talent. Landing Fears would be big for the Illini. It is him and Kylan Boswell as my top two point guards for 2023. I would be happy with either one and would be thrilled for both.

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