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Illinois Basketball: Projected Illini lineup without Zacharie Perrin

By Rees Woodcock

PISCATAWAY, NJ - FEBRUARY 16: Head coach Brad Underwood of the Illinois Fighting Illini during the second half of a game against the Rutgers Scarlet Knights at Jersey Mike's Arena on February 16, 2022 in Piscataway, New Jersey. Rutgers defeated Illinois 70-59. (Photo by Rich Schultz/Getty Images)
PISCATAWAY, NJ - FEBRUARY 16: Head coach Brad Underwood of the Illinois Fighting Illini during the second half of a game against the Rutgers Scarlet Knights at Jersey Mike's Arena on February 16, 2022 in Piscataway, New Jersey. Rutgers defeated Illinois 70-59. (Photo by Rich Schultz/Getty Images) /
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Ensworth’s Skyy Clark (55) pushes past Brentwood’s Macen Redner (24) during the second quarter at Brentwood High School in Brentwood, Tenn., Thursday, Nov. 19, 2020.Bhs Ehs Bbb 111920 An 009 /

Illinois basketball received some bad news this past weekend with one of their 2022 commitments.

The Illini were able to land one of the top classes in the nation for 2022. Illinois finished with the No. 10 ranked class in the country, and this group contained four four-star recruits.

Brad Underwood and his coaching staff also landed a non-ranked player in Zacharie Perrin. Despite not being rated or ranked, Perrin was getting a lot of recruiting and national attention for his play overseas in France.

The 6-foot-10 Perrin committed to Illinois and was supposed to be joining the program this fall. That didn’t happen, though. He announced on his Twitter page that he was taking a prep year instead and will join Illinois next year.

With this change in roster comes a change in lineup. So, I did some slight adjustments.

Here is the projected Illinois basketball lineup without Zacharie Perrin.

No. 1 Guard

Starter: Skyy Clark (FR)

Nothing has really changed with the guard positions for the Illini. I still have Skyy Clark coming into the program and starting at point guard from day one.

Clark enters the Illinois program as the highest-rated recruit in 2022 for Brad Underwood. He is also the fifth-highest rated recruit Illinois has ever landed in the 247Sports ratings era. Clark should come in and be one of the leaders immediately. With him being the No. 33 player in the country, I expect great things out of this freshman phenom.

Backup: Jayden Epps (FR)

Illinois’ class of 2022 should be the backbone of the point guard position. Clark will be the starter at the No. 1 guard spot and backing him up will likely be freshman, Jayden Epps.

Epps isn’t as highly rated as Clark, but he can hold his own on the basketball court. As the best player in the state of North Carolina, Epps was ranked as the No. 72 player in the 2022 class. I see him as a talent who can come in behind Clark at point guard, but he can also play the No. 2 and No. 3 guard spots. This kid has the talent to light up the scoreboard. For now, though, I have him as the backup to Clark.

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