Illinois Basketball: 5-star shooting guard is a new target for the Illini

Illinois basketball cast their line into the water in hopes of landing another big fish for the 2024 class on Tuesday.

The Illini currently have an amazing class for 2024. Morez Johnson is the lead dog for the class, and he is a top 50 recruit and someone who could help bring in other talented players. I also love that our point guard position is going to be manned by ZZ Clark in the future.

Johnson and Clark form a duo that currently has Illinois’ class of 2024 ranked No. 2 in the country. With the addition of a player like Isaiah Elohim, Brad Underwood would easily take the No. 1 spot.

Elohim is a 6-foot-5, 190-pound shooting guard from Sierra Canyon High School and resides in Chatsworth, California. He is rated as a five-star recruit and ranked as the No. 4 player in the class of 2024. He is also the No. 3 shooting guard in the nation and the best player coming out of California.

On Tuesday, Illinois threw their hat into the ring and offered Elohim a scholarship. It looks like we will have some stiff competition as he has roughly eight scholarship offers on the table right now. Some of the bigger names besides Illinois include Kansas, Kentucky, and Oregon.

Illinois basketball adding a five-star like Isaiah Elohim would make us one of the national title favorites.

There are a lot of positive vibes for the Illini heading into the future. The top 10 recruiting class we just pulled in from 2022 will be the foundation for success in the future. Illinois has their point guards set for the next few years with Skyy Clark transitioning into ZZ Clark.

Underwood was just able to add the first piece for the 2023 class in Amani Hansberry. He is a top 70 player in the country. Hansberry will be a dominating force at forward for the program.

And then the 2024 class will come in. As previously mentioned, another Clark will take over at point guard. Johnson will man the No. 3 or No. 4 spot. I am hoping Johnson can also convince teammate James Brown to come play center for the Illini in 2024. He is a top 35 player in the class of 2024.

What Underwood and his coaching staff are doing on the recruiting trail is impressive. When a previous Illini coaching staff would offer a scholarship to a kid like Elohim, I would think we would have no chance at landing him. That has all changed, though. Illinois basketball isn’t just relevant in the win-loss column, but we are one of the top recruiting teams in the country. I have confidence we can make some noise in this recruitment.