The Illinois basketball coaching staff is in early on the recruitment of a local 2025 prospect who offers pretty much everything you want in a point guard.
2025 three-star point guard Elijah Lovemore shared on his social media page on Saturday photos from his Illini unofficial visit.
Lovemore is a 6-foot-4, 170-pound prospect out of Bloom High School in Chicago Heights, Illinois. He is rated as a three-star recruit and ranked as the No. 29 point guard in the country. Lovemore is also the No. 6 player coming out of Illinois.
illini nation what you think??🔸🔹@iamjrhymes @3ssbRose #fightingillni #Illinois #illini pic.twitter.com/mXpz7zO3as
— smooth🥷🏽 (@ElijahLovemore) November 4, 2023
Currently, Lovemore has three scholarship offers, all from non-power five programs; Bryant, Eastern Illinois, and Illinois-Chicago. He has been hearing from numerous Power Five schools, however. Along with the Illini, Marquette, Western Michigan, Northern Illinois, and Pittsburgh have reached out.
Illinois basketball is targeting an all-around player in Elijah Lovemore
During his sophomore season at Bloom, Lovemore averaged 9.1 points, 5.6 assists, 3.3 rebounds, and 2.0 steals in 29 games of action. He also competed for the Mac Irvin Fire, the same AAU team that guys like our beloved Ayo Dosunmu and Terrence Shannon Jr. played for. However, Lovemore announced in September that he is committed to Team Rose 3SSB for the next AAU season.
If Lovemore ultimately ends up sporting the Orange and Blue, the Illini would get a player who can hit from all levels of the floor, dish out fancy-looking dimes, and earn possessions with steals on the defensive end. Additionally, Lovemore’s ridiculous handles allow him to create opportunities to get to the basket or create some space for an open jumper.
This minute-long highlight reel of his proves just that.
Some fall league highlights vs some of the top projected teams in the state ‼️ pic.twitter.com/n2gf8nivpj
— smooth🥷🏽 (@ElijahLovemore) October 7, 2023
Want another reason to be excited for him? He dropped 43 points during the MadeHoops camp.
Joining Lovemore for an unofficial visit himself was his Team Rose teammate Zion Gross, a 6-foot-5 guard, attending Joliet West High School. The Illini currently don’t have any commitments for the class of 2025.