Illinois Basketball: Illini secure first commitment for the 2023 class

The Illinois basketball team added their first piece to the class of 2023, and it was a big-time addition.

Entering Sunday, the Illini had failed to snag a single player for the 2023 class. The class of 2022 was top 10 in the country and the class of 2024 is currently the No. 2 class in the nation. But, for some reason, the 2023 group hadn’t gotten off the ground. But that has now changed.

On Sunday, Amani Hansberry took to Twitter to announce that he was committing to Illinois. This is a pretty big addition considering Hansberry had already been on all five of his official visits to some pretty good programs. The Illini were able to beat out teams like Boston College, Virginia Tech, Miami (FL), and Penn State for his commitment. Illinois is now getting a top 100 player for 2023.

Hansberry is a 6-foot-8, 225-pound power forward from Mt. St. Joseph High School and resides in Baltimore, Maryland. He is rated as a four-star recruit and ranked as the No. 52 player in the class of 2023. He is also the No. 10 power forward in the nation and the best player coming out of Maryland.

Amani Hansberry adds to a hot streak of Illinois basketball recruiting.

With the addition of Hansberry to the class of 2023, Illinois now has a four-star recruit on the board and someone who is in the top 60 in the nation. He is also the best player in the state of Maryland, which is something Brad Underwood and his coaching staff have been able to accomplish quite often.

For the 2024 class, Morez Johnson is the top commit, and he is the No. 2 player in the state of Illinois. The No. 1 player, James Brown, is his teammate at St. Rita High School and is Illinois’ No. 1 target right now.

In the class of 2022, the Illinois coaching staff landed Ty Rodgers, who was the No. 1 player in the state of Illinois. We also brought in Jayden Epps and Sencire Harris, who were the No. 1 players in the state of North Carolina and Ohio, respectively.

Andre Curbelo came out of the class of 2020, and he was ranked as the No. 1 player in Puerto Rico. And, in 2018, Illinois snagged the great Ayo Dosunmu, and he was the best player coming out of the state of Illinois.

The job Illinois has done with recruiting is incredible. This program hasn’t seen this type of consistent recruiting ability since Bill Self coached the team in the early 2000s. Getting top players will eventually turn into deeper and deeper NCAA tournament runs.