Illinois Basketball: Crystal Ball favors Illini to land 2024 combo guard

Illinois basketball is looking to add to the class of 2024, and now we are favored to land our first backcourt player.

The class of 2024 started off strong for the Illini. Morez Johnson Jr. committed to the program a couple of years back. He is rising in the recruiting rankings and is currently a top 40 recruit for 2024. Jason Jakstys joined Johnson by committing to Illinois this past July.

These two frontcourt players will help the Illini dominate in the paint for years to come. But Illinois needs some backcourt help. We need players who can come in and contribute at guard in the near future.

Jase Butler might be one of those players. On Monday, Travis Branham of 247Sports reported that Butler will be announcing his college decision on October 4. One of the teams that Butler has had an interest in is Illinois.

So far, Butler has taken four official visits. He started with UC Santa Barbara back on June 28. On August 26, he took a trip to Loyola Marymount. Colorado State followed on September 1. This past weekend, Butler made his fourth official visit to Champaign. He took in what the Illini had to offer. Now he is ready to make a commitment.

With a commitment on the horizon, 247Sports’ Maryland insider, Colby Giacubeno, submitted a Crystal Ball Prediction for Butler. He has the guard committing to Illinois with a confidence of six out of 10.

Jase Butler would help strengthen guard depth on the Illinois basketball roster

Butler would be a great addition to the Illinois program. He is a 6-foot-4, 180-pound combo guard from The Branson School in California. He is rated as a three-star recruit and ranked as the No. 191 player in the class of 2024. He is also the No. 24 combo guard in the country and the No. 20 player coming out of California.

After the season, Illinois is going to lose some big-time talent. Terrence Shannon Jr., Marcus Domask, and Justin Harmon will all depart. That is a lot of talent gone from the backcourt. You can add Luke Goode to that mix in the following year as well.

So, Illinois is going to need more guard depth. A player like Butler is perfect. With the young talent we have on the roster, Butler won’t be asked to start right away. He can come off the bench and learn behind some talented players.

Butler should get minutes in year one. In year two, he is probably going to be the sixth man. I see him then transitioning into a starting role by year three. That is the path I see for this talented guard.