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Illinois Basketball: Illini recruiting targets move in updated 247Sports 2023 rankings

By Rees Woodcock

CHAMPAIGN , IL - NOVEMBER 13: The Big 10 logo on the floor before a college basketball game between the Georgetown Hoyas and the Illinois Fighting Illini at the State Farm Center on November 13, 2018 in Champaign, Illinois. (Photo by Mitchell Layton/Getty Images) *** Local Caption ***
CHAMPAIGN , IL - NOVEMBER 13: The Big 10 logo on the floor before a college basketball game between the Georgetown Hoyas and the Illinois Fighting Illini at the State Farm Center on November 13, 2018 in Champaign, Illinois. (Photo by Mitchell Layton/Getty Images) *** Local Caption *** /
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PISCATAWAY, NJ – FEBRUARY 15: The logo of the Illinois Fighting Illini on the uniform shorts during in a college basketball game against the Rutgers Scarlet Knights at Rutgers Athletic Center on February 15, 2020 in Piscataway, New Jersey. (Photo by Rich Schultz/Getty Images) /

2. JJ Taylor

There are some heavy hitters who got a bump in the updated recruiting rankings. The next player on the list is in-state star, JJ Taylor.

Coming into Wednesday, Taylor was the No. 7 player in the class of 2023. He is now one spot ahead of that at No. 6. While it is a slight bump, it shows that 247Sports thinks highly of the Kenwood Academy forward.

Much like Buzelis, every program in the country is after Taylor. The 6-foot-8, 185-pound small forward is the complete package. He is going to be elite at the next level.

Illinois has been on Taylor from the start. They have visited him on multiple occasions throughout the past year or so. But one of the main recruiters for Taylor, Chin Coleman, departed the Illinois program to become an assistant at Kentucky. Now it looks like he is recruiting Taylor to come play for the Wildcats.

247Sports actually has Illinois and Kentucky as the top two programs for Taylor right now. Just this past weekend, though, Taylor and a couple of other recruits came down to visit Illinois. They got to see the Illini practice, and Taylor mentioned that Illinois was at the top of his list right now.

Obviously, recruiting is fluid, so the words of Taylor could change at any moment. But to hear a five-star recruit who is in the top 10 nationally say that Illinois is at the top is exciting. Hopefully, we can close the deal and land the best player in the state of Illinois.

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