Illinois Basketball: A big 2025 recruit is visiting the Illini this weekend

Illinois basketball dipped into the Michigan recruiting scene for the class of 2022, and they are eyeing another big Michigan target for 2025.

The Illini have yet to land a recruit for the class of 2025 because, well, it is the class of 2025. That is still a long way down the road. But building strong relationships with talented recruits from this class right now is extremely important.

That is why Brad Underwood and his coaching staff are going hard after Trey McKenney. He is a 6-foot-4, 205-pound shooting guard from St. Mary’s High School in Flint, Michigan. He is rated as a four-star recruit and ranked as the No. 22 player in the class of 2025. He is also the No. 5 shooting guard in the country and the best player coming out of Michigan.

Illinois was one of McKenney’s first offers back in December 2021. Since then, he has received a slew of recruiting attention and has racked up roughly 13 scholarship offers this early in his recruitment. McKenney has also started to take unofficial visits to get a lay of the land.

According to Hayden Shelton of NextUpRecruits.net, McKenney has visited with Michigan, Indiana, Ohio State, Michigan State, and Iowa. Shelton also mentions in the tweet on Wednesday that McKenney is taking an unofficial visit this weekend to Illinois.

Illinois basketball needs a playmaker like Trey McKenney for the class of 2025.

Underwood and his coaching staff have done a great job recruiting. That is a blanket statement because you can’t say just one state. This staff has plucked some of the best talent from various states across the country.

McKenney could be the next great player Illinois lands. We have experience going into Michigan and landing the top player in the state. Let’s not forget that Ty Rodgers played his first three years of high school basketball in Michigan and was ranked as the top player in the state. He would later transfer to Thornton Township to finish out his high school career and instantly became the best player in the state of Illinois.

So, this really isn’t anything new for the Illinois coaching staff. Also, could you imagine the Illini with McKenney in the mix for 2025?

Just looking at the 2024 class and beyond, the Illini would have ZZ Clark at the No. 1 spot, McKenney would then play the No. 2. Morez Johnson fits in at the No. 4 spot. There is a possibility Illinois lands the top player in the state of Illinois in James Brown. He would man the No. 5 spot.

I firmly believe Illinois is in a great position to compete and win a national title in the next two years. If we can add a player like McKenney to the mix in 2025, we could turn this program back into a blue-blood.