Illinois Basketball: Rising North Carolina guard receives Illini offer

Illinois basketball wants to continue adding to their already stacked 2024 class.

As of right now, the Illini have the best recruiting class in the nation for 2024. The top commitment is Morez Johnson, who is rated as a four-star recruit and ranked as the No. 44 player in the class of 2024. Illinois also has ZZ Clark committed for 2024, but he has yet to be rated or ranked by 247Sports.

Brad Underwood and the Illinois coaching staff aren’t even close to being finished with the class of 2024, though. They are offering scholarships quite frequently, and one of the latest offers is to a talented shooting guard in Jayden Harris.

Harris is a 6-foot-5 shooting guard from Salisbury High School and resides in Salisbury, North Carolina. He isn’t rated or ranked by 247Sports, but the recruitment is starting to really heat up with some decent programs coming in with a scholarship offer.

Besides for Illinois, some of the other teams to offer Harris include the likes of Houston, Tennessee, and Texas A&M. As of right now, he has roughly 15 scholarships on the table.

Illinois basketball is looking to stockpile shooters like Jayden Harris for the future.

It doesn’t come as a surprise that Illinois extended an offer to Harris. Underwood wants players who can score the basketball, and Harris is a certified bucket-getter. He can shoot from anywhere on the court, which is something that nearly every Illini player can do on the team right now.

This has been a trend with Underwood lately, especially since the coaching staff had nearly a 100% turnover just a couple of years ago.

Illinois’ recruiting focus has been on getting players who can get buckets and then get back on defense. RJ Melendez and Luke Goode both fit that mold. The 2022 class that is coming in this season is laced with three-and-D type guys.

I believe Sencire Harris, Jayden Epps, Ty Rodgers, and Skyy Clark can all shoot from anywhere on the court. They all have the ability to get a bucket when they are called upon. That is what I love about the incoming class and the mentality of the Illini coaching staff.

It looks like Illinois is trying to continue that trend with the addition of Harris in 2024. I think he would be a great option for the Illini, and hopefully, we can get in the mix when things get serious and he is ready to make a commitment.