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5-star recruit getting a lot of attention from the Illinois basketball coaching staff

Illinois basketball always needs big-time recruits, and that is why the Illini coaching staff is eyeing this huge 5-star player.

ByRees Woodcock|
Dec 6, 2024; Evanston, Illinois, USA; Illinois Fighting Illini head coach Brad Underwood gestures to his team against the Northwestern Wildcats during the first half at Welsh-Ryan Arena. Mandatory Credit: David Banks-Imagn Images
Dec 6, 2024; Evanston, Illinois, USA; Illinois Fighting Illini head coach Brad Underwood gestures to his team against the Northwestern Wildcats during the first half at Welsh-Ryan Arena. Mandatory Credit: David Banks-Imagn Images | David Banks-Imagn Images

Illinois basketball wants to continue being great in the future, and landing top talent is the way to get there.

Last season was pretty magical for the Illini. We not only reached the Elite 8 for the first time since 2005, but the program also had a first-round pick in the 2024 NBA Draft, as Terrence Shannon Jr. was selected No. 27 overall by the Minnesota Timberwolves.

That type of talent is how you can get over the hump and be a perennial contender. Brad Underwood and the coaching staff know this to be a fact. That is why we landed players like Tomislav Ivisic, Kasparas Jackucionis, and Will Riley.

Those players are trying to lift the current Illinois roster. In the future, the player who could help this program reach great heights could be Alex Constanza.

On Wednesday night, Joe Tipton of On3.com reported that there are multiple teams watching Constanza play with his Westminster Academy program in the City of Palms Classic. Among the teams that Tipton reported were in the house watching the recruit were the likes of Oklahoma State, Oregon, Kentucky, and Illinois, among others.

Alex Constanza would continue giving the Illinois basketball program the elite talent needed to win

Constanza is one of those special types of players. He is a 6-foot-8, 205-pound small forward from Florida. Constanza is rated as a four-star recruit and ranked as the No. 15 player in the class of 2026. He is also the No. 5 small forward in the country and the No. 3 player coming out of Florida.

If Constanza’s national ranking stays the same, he will be upped to a five-star talent in no time. Any player who is in the top 20 nationally is usually a five-star recruit.

Illinois is also in a position where there is going to be massive changes to the roster nearly every season. We saw it with just two players returning from the Elite 8 roster, and one of those players essentially opted out of this season.

I think there is going to be a ton of turnover after the 2024-25 campaign as well. Jakucionis and Riley are both going to be departing the program without a doubt. Ben Humrichous will age out. And there is a chance Kylan Boswell and Ivisic are both gone too. Who knows in today’s college world?

What this means is that Illinois needs a great recruiting haul every season. Landing someone like Constanza would give us the firepower needed to compete.

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