Illinois Basketball: Illini looking for wing help with offer to Dwayne Pierce

Illinois basketball hit the New York area hard with recruiting the last couple of weeks.

The Illini are looking to bolster their class of 2024 with another talented player. With two commitments on the board already, there are plenty of options for Brad Underwood and Co.

Dwayne Pierce is one of those options. Back on Sunday, Pierce took to Twitter to announce that the Illini had extended him a scholarship offer. This was one of several offers Pierce had received in the past week alone.

Pierce is a 6-foot-5, 190-pound small forward from Christ The King Regional High School and resides in Middle Village, New York. He isn’t rated or ranked by 247Sports, but as I mentioned earlier, there are numerous programs swarming in to offer Pierce.

As of right now, Pierce has roughly seven scholarship offers with some of the bigger programs being LSU, Nebraska, and St. John’s, in addition to Illinois. This recruitment is going to continue to pick up steam as well.

Dwayne Pierce has the versatility to help the Illinois basketball program.

One of the many things I love about the Underwood regime is the fact there are multiple players who can play multiple positions. The versatility of the Illini roster is phenomenal.

I see someone like Pierce coming into the Illinois program and improving that versatility. He isn’t just a wing or a guard or a forward. This kid can do it all.

Pierce’s physical abilities are great. He can get to the rim and finish with a bucket. I think his handles are extremely underrated. Pierce can play like a guard and use his dribbling to create space. His great shooting ability from anywhere on the court will then convert that space into points.

There are a lot of options still left for the Illinois class of 2024. I think Pierce is one of the more underrated players in the class. I see a lot of Talent Horton-Tucker in his game. Pierce would be a nice addition to the roster.