Illinois Basketball: Illini currently in top 3 for 4-star Chicago point guard

Things are pretty exciting right now for the Illinois basketball program, especially in the recruiting business.

Just days ago, the Illini were able to land five-star point guard Skyy Clark for the class of 2022. Clark is the highest-rated recruit in the 247Sports era to ever pledge his commitment to the Orange and Blue. He also caps off one of the greatest recruiting classes in school history as Illinois sits with the No. 8 class for 2022.

But everyone knows that if you don’t continuously recruit in each and every class, then you will likely fall behind in college basketball. With early departures to the NBA and the transfer portal, who knows how many scholarships Illinois will have available for the class of 2023 and beyond. One thing I do know for sure is the fact we need to get a commitment or two in this group.

As of right now, no one has committed to Illinois from the class of 2023. We have the great class of 2022 coming in and four-star Morez Johnson pledged for 2024, but nothing has formulated for the 2023 class. The first domino to fall for 2023 could end up being Darrin “Dai Dai” Ames.

Ames is a 6-foot-1, 160-pound point guard from Kenwood Academy and resides in Chicago, Illinois. He is rated as a four-star recruit and ranked as the No. 46 player in the class of 2023. He is also the No. 9 point guard in the nation and the best player coming out of the state of Illinois.

On Friday, the national basketball reporter for Rivals, Rob Cassidy, tweeted out that Ames had a top three at this point in his recruitment. The top three consisted of Marquette, Kansas State, and Illinois. Cassidy also mentions that Ames is setting up visits to all three programs.

Darrin “Dai Dai” Ames would be the next great point guard for the Illinois basketball program.

Illinois is going to have a special team on their hands in 2022-23. With Clark taking over the point guard duties, we should be able to do some damage in the college basketball world.

But something tells me that Clark might only be around for one season. That would be sad, but it is the reality of landing such a talented player. There is a chance he has a good year and bolts for the NBA.

The silver lining to that possibility is that it would leave the door wide open for someone like Ames to come in and start his freshman season. He could be our No. 1 from day one, and that has to be enticing for the talented Chicago native.

Underwood has the potential to make Illinois known for sending guards to the NBA. Ayo Dosunmu was an all-around great guard for the Orange and Blue. He is one of the best rookies in the NBA right now. Clark is going to join the Illini this fall and be one of the best point guards in the country. He might leave early for The Association. Maybe Ames will be the third Illinois guard to don an NBA jersey here in the next few years.