Illinois Basketball: 2026 Indiana guard has the attention of Illini coaches

Illinois basketball is going after a talented guard from the class of 2026.

The Illini are working hard at the recruiting game. While they attempt to button up the class of 2024 and work on building the class of 2025, the Illinois coaching staff is also laying the groundwork for the 2026 class.

Obviously, there hasn’t been a commitment for 2026 just yet, but there are plenty of talented recruits who are looking for a home. One recruit Illinois is targeting is DeZhon Hall.

Hall is a 6-foot-3, 175-pound point guard out of Pike High School in Indiana. He isn’t rated or ranked just yet, but that is due to him being in the class of 2026. The full evaluations have yet to be released.

The recruitment of Hall is starting to blow up. While the offers haven’t flown in just yet, he is receiving plenty of interest from big-time programs. Hall is also taking unofficial visits. He has been to Illinois, Michigan State, and Ohio State, to name a few.

Illinois is also sending coaches to visit Hall. On Tuesday, it was reported by HS Top Recruits on social media, and reposted by Hall himself, that the Illini sent an assistant coach in to see him at Pike. Illinois clearly sees a lot of potential in this kid, and they are putting the resources into landing him.

It would be great if the Illinois basketball program could start a recruiting pipeline in Indiana

Brad Underwood has done a great job recruiting since taking over the Illini. We have consistently been in the top 20 in each recruiting class, and we are opening up avenues to different states that we have not recruited well in recent history.

Indiana is one of those states. Before Underwood, the state of Indiana was nearly nonexistent. I think Jalen Coleman-Lands might have been one of the few Indiana recruits Illinois has landed in the past couple of decades.

But Underwood has started to buck that trend. Pulling in Luke Goode was a big deal. Illinois has never had success in the Fort Wayne market, but we were able to land the best shooter to come out of Fort Wayne in decades.

In the 2023 class, Illinois was able to secure a commitment from Dra Gibbs-Lawhorn. While he played his last couple of years of high school basketball outside the state of Indiana, Gibbs-Lawhorn is actually from Lafayette, Indiana.

At this point in the proceedings, it is fair to say Underwood is building a pipeline to the state of Indiana. Indiana is a basketball state, and plucking the Hoosier State’s top recruits will start paying dividends. Hopefully, Hall is one of the next in line to join the program.