Illinois Basketball: It’s closing time on a top guard in the class of 2024

Things are pretty quiet on the recruiting front for the Illinois basketball program.

There hasn’t been a ton of action lately in regards to landing future talent. The last player to pledge to the Illini was Jason Jakstys back in July. The player before that was Morez Johnson Jr. who committed in November 2021.

Illinois’ class of 2024 sits at No. 25 in the country with those two commitments. Johnson leads the way as far as talent on paper goes, as he is a four-star recruit who is the No. 39 player in the 2024 class.

Over the past few months, Illinois has been targeting a number of players and has honed in on a handful. One of those players is Mikey Lewis.

The 6-foot-3, 170-pound guard from Prolific Prep is a four-star recruit who is ranked as the No. 64 player in the class of 2024. Illinois has been targeting Lewis since April when they offered him a scholarship. He then went on to average 18.1 points, 4.5 rebounds, 2.2 assists, and 1.0 steals per game during the Nike EYBL AAU season.

On Tuesday, it was reported by multiple outlets that a few teams traveled out to California to visit with Lewis at Prolific Prep. One of the teams that was there was Illinois.

Illinois basketball is clearly trying to seal the deal with 2024 superstar guard Mikey Lewis

Brad Underwood and an Illini assistant made the trip out to visit with Lewis. The fact Underwood is making the trip is a pretty big deal, and to me, it means that Illinois wants to land Lewis in the coming days.

At the end of July, Lewis narrowed the scope of his recruitment down to six teams. Illinois, LSU, Kansas, San Diego State, Ole Miss, and St. Mary’s all made the cut. Lewis’ first official visit is to Illinois this weekend, though.

It feels like the options for the class of 2024 are dwindling as well. On Tuesday, wing Jaiden Glover committed to St. John’s. Illinois was in his top eight, so he was an option for the Illini.

Everything that is happening right now is a sign to me that Illinois wants a commitment. It is closing time for the Illini. Let’s see if we can land one of the top guards in the country. This is a big one for the program.