Illinois Basketball: Illini honing in on versatile power forward for 2025

The floodgates started to open for the class of 2025, and the Illinois basketball team was there to pounce.

Most of the focus for the Illini has been on buttoning up the class of 2023 and trying to build on what could be a pretty special 2024 class. But now the Illinois coaching staff is starting to really hone in on some of the top recruits in the country for 2025.

On Thursday, Nicholas Randall took to social media to announce that he had received a scholarship offer from Illinois. This wasn’t his first offer by any means, though.

As of right now, Randall has roughly six scholarship offers on the board, and they are all from big-time programs.

Illinois basketball is eyeing the potential of Nicholas Randall being another menace in the paint

Randall is a 6-foot-7, 200-pound power forward from Vashon High School in Missouri. He isn’t rated or ranked by 247Sports just yet, but those rankings will be updated in the near future.

Randall already has big programs coming after him, so he is probably a top-100 recruit right now. If I had to guess, I would say he is most likely somewhere between No. 60 and No. 80 in the class of 2025.

Opinion

It seems that Randall is more of your modern-day power forward. He has the big body that can bang around in the paint, but he is more of a polished shooter than a traditional big man.

I am impressed with how well Randall can shoot from all levels. He has nice touch around the rim, can knock down the mid-range jumper, and can step back for a three-pointer as well. Randall can stretch the floor, which enables his offense to prosper. That is what teams look for in today’s game.

Over the next year or so, I expect Randall to grow more. His game reminds me of Coleman Hawkins, but I think Randall is a more polished shooter from all levels. Look for Randall’s recruitment to continue to blow up in the coming months.