Illinois Basketball: Illini eyeing under-the-radar point guard for 2023

It is always nice to see Illinois basketball tapping into some under-the-radar talent.

Brad Underwood and the Illini coaching staff have been some of the best recruiters in the country for the past half-decade or so. The class of 2022 is one of the best I have seen in program history.

The class of 2023 hasn’t been so lucky, though. There are zero commitments thus far, and I am not sure who will be the first player to pledge to Illinois from this class. But Underwood is still putting in a ton of effort to find good players who could help.

Just a couple of weeks ago, the Illini started to recruit Niccolo Moretti. He is a 6-foot-2 point guard from DME Academy and resides in Daytona Beach, Florida. He isn’t rated or ranked by 247Sports, but there are some programs that are starting to take notice of the talented guard.

Illinois is the biggest program to extend Moretti a scholarship offer, but he also has offers from teams like USC, Radford, and Bryant.

Niccolo Moretti could be a sneaky pick-up for the Illinois basketball team.

Moretti came over to the United States from Italy where he also played basketball. He then played for DME Academy where he has not only developed his skills, but he has become a known name to some big programs. It is now being reported that Moretti will finish up his prep year at the NBA Academy Austrailia.

I love everything Moretti brings to the table as far as the point guard position goes. He is very smart with the ball. He can penetrate the defense and then compute what he wants to do on the fly. This type of play reminds me of someone like Andre Curbelo, but I think Moretti is less chaotic.

The way Moretti maneuvers on the basketball court and the way he handles the ball also reminds me of Luka Doncic. He causes the defense to break down on him, and this opens up his teammates for wide-open shots. That is what I would love on the Illinois basketball team.

It is smart for Underwood to pursue a player like Moretti too. Illinois has Skyy Clark at point guard this season, but he might be a one-and-done. ZZ Clark will enter the picture in 2024, but the Illini will need point guard help in between. That is where Moretti could come into play.

Hopefully, we can get in the Moretti sweepstakes. He is a good player who could help Illinois and bring depth to the point guard role.