Illinois Basketball: 3 takeaways from the final 247Sports class of 2022 rankings

3. A few big teams are standing out

It has been about 20 years since I have had this feeling, but Illinois basketball is finally competing for top recruits, and we are being recognized as a program that can pull in some big names.

Illinois finishing with the No. 7 class in the nation for 2022 is big for the team. The Skyy Clark commitment is what helped send us over the top, but I expect this trend to continue for as long as Brad Underwood is at the helm.

The Illini are actually up there with some of the blue bloods of the college basketball world. Some of these blue bloods are standing out in the class of 2022.

Duke has an insane class coming in. Three out of the top four players are heading to the Blue Devils program, and that is a terrifying thought. This will be a true test for first-year head coach Jon Scheyer to see if he can get high school kids to gel in the lone year he has them on campus.

I think Arkansas jumps off the page. They have the No. 2 class in the country and have three top 20 players coming in. The Razorbacks have Nick Smith entering the program, and he is the best player in the nation according to 247Sports. Whoever gets the best player from the high school ranks is always a team to watch.

The last team that sticks out to me is Kansas. Bill Self is reloading the Jayhawks with four top 50 recruits. That is an impressive haul and one that will be extremely competitive in 2022-23.

I haven’t been able to say this in a long time, but Illinois is one of the best teams in the country when it comes to recruiting. These big-time programs stand out, and the Illini are right there with them. Now, we just need to turn the recruiting into results in the postseason. That will come with time.