Illinois Basketball: 2024 4-star recruit keeps Illini in top 10

A top 100 guard to go along with Illinois basketball commit Morez Johnson Jr.? Yes, please.

The Illini currently have a solid 2-man class of 2024 put together that features Johnson, a four-star recruit who is ranked No. 46 in the country, and Jason Jakstys, a three-star recruit who is ranked No. 236 in the 2024 class.

Both talented players are going to suit up for Illinois in the frontcourt, but we are going to need some backcourt pieces as well. On Monday, the Illini received some great news, as Jared Harris decided to narrow the scope of his recruitment.

Harris took to social media to announce that he is now down to just 10 teams. The 10 programs vying for his commitment include Texas A&M, Mississippi State, Kansas, Colorado, Memphis, Alabama, LSU, DePaul, Arkansas, and Illinois.

This would be a big commitment for the Illini. Harris is a 6-foot-2, 160-pound shooting guard from Silsbee High School in Texas. He is rated as a four-star recruit and ranked as the No. 75 player in the class of 2024. He is also the No. 14 shooting guard in the country and the No. 3 player coming out of Texas.

It looks like there are a few teams who might have the lead in the Harris recruitment. He has already set up official visits to Kansas on September 1, Mississippi State on September 15, Colorado on September 30, and Texas A&M on October 6.

Illinois basketball still has time to land a top player like Jared Harris from the class of 2024

The need to land Harris is high for the Illini. We don’t have a backcourt player committed for 2024, and the backcourt players on the roster are pretty thin.

Heading into next season, Illinois is going to have Sencire Harris, Niccolo Moretti, and Dra Gibbs-Lawhorn as the main backcourt players. I look at Luke Goode and Ty Rodgers are more wing or even No. 4 guys. This leaves a lot of open playing time for someone like Harris to come in and make an impact from day one.

It used to be that players were only allowed five official visits, but that rule has since been changed. Players now can take an unlimited number of official visits, and this benefits Illinois greatly in the Harris recruitment. If we can continue to make an impact, the next step will then be to land an official visit from Harris. I would imagine that would be set up in the next week or so.

Hopefully, Illinois can get that coveted visit and we can continue building the backcourt. This class of 2024 has a chance to be an all-time type of group.