Illinois Basketball: Brad Underwood makes local recruiting trip

Illinois basketball head coach Brad Underwood took a little recruiting trip during the Christmas break on Tuesday.

There are many holiday basketball tournaments going on right now in the state of Illinois. The tournament the Illini head coach decided to attend was the 47th Jack Tosh Holiday Classic. It was day two of the event, and there were a couple of future stars trying to lead their respective teams to a title.

According to the Jack Tosh Holiday Classic Twitter account, Underwood was in the building to watch Lemont High School guard, Nojus Indrusaitis, and Rolling Meadows guard, Cameron Christie.

Day one was a success for both players. Lemont and Rolling Meadows both won their first-round matchups, and each player performed well. Indrusaitis led his Lemont program to a 75-50 victory while dropping 32 points, nine rebounds, three steals, and two assists. He was also 4-of-7 from three-point range.

Christie also had a big first day. His Rolling Meadows team won 68-54, and he managed to put up 21 points, four rebounds, two steals, and two assists while shooting 8-of-17 from the field.

Illinois basketball would be fortunate to get both Indrusaitis and Christie into the program.

Underwood went and watched the two stars on their second day of action. Interestingly enough, Indrusaitis and Christie played against each other. Christie would end up coming out ahead on the scoreboard and the box score.

Rolling Meadows came out victorious over Lemont, 67-59. Indrusaitis finished the game with 13 points, five rebounds, and two steals, but he also had four turnovers on the day and only shot 35% from the field.

It looks like Christie got the best of Indrusaitis this time around. He would finish the game with 27 points, three assists, and two rebounds while going 10-of-21 from the field and 5-of-9 from three-point range.

I think both players are big-time scorers who can light up the scoreboard on any given night. Underwood being at this game is a good move. It shows he cares and wants these two great players for the future. Hopefully, Illinois can land Christie for the class of 2023 and Indrusaitis for 2024.