Illinois basketball has been building one of the best programs in the country over the past five years.
Brad Underwood raised the level of recruiting for the Illini to a place we haven’t experienced. That recruiting level could hit a pinnacle in the near future, as there are a plethora of massive recruits on the horizon.
On Tuesday, Dushawn London of 247Sports reported that Illinois is now getting an official visit from Benjamin Berrouet.
Source: Benjamin Berrouet, the No. 21 overall prospect in the class of 2028, will take an official visit to Illinois on November 5th.https://t.co/mkrlf8maaD pic.twitter.com/cvu4Y8OBgM
— Dushawn London (@DushawnLondon1) September 22, 2026
Berrouet is a 6-foot-7, 240-pound power forward from Dynamic Prep in Texas. He is rated as a five-star recruit and ranked as the No. 13 player in the class of 2028. Berrouet is also the No. 2 power forward in the country and the No. 3 player coming out of Texas.
Nearly every major program in the country is after the services of Berrouet, but he has scheduled three official visits thus far. He will be making the trip to Kentucky on October 9. He will then travel to the West to visit UCLA on October 28. Berrouet’s trip to Illinois is set to take place on November 5.
This is another big official visit for the Illinois class of 2028. Berrouet now joins both Bentley Lusakueno and Brady Pettigrew in showing interest in the Orange and Blue. Lusakueno visited Champaign this past weekend, while Pettigrew is slated to come to Illinois on October 2.
The Illinois basketball pursuit of Benjamin Berrouet could bear fruit sooner than 2028
It would be great to get all three of the 2028 recruits. All three players – Berrouet, Pettigrew, and Lusakueno – are five-star recruits. That alone would be the best class in program history and the top recruiting class in the country.
A thing that could help Illinois but spoil a monster class in 2028 is the possibility that Berrouet might not end up in the 2028 group.
There are rumblings that Berrouet might reclassify to the class of 2027. He has been quoted in multiple places talking about the potential of being a member of the 2027 class, but nothing is concrete yet.
If Berrouet did commit to Illinois, and he reclassified to 2027, that would give us a monster class, too. We already have four-star players Quinton Kitt and Mason Martin committed. On top of those two, Darius Wabbington and Moussa Kamissoko both visited Champaign this past weekend. They are five-star recruits.
With that being said, Kamissoko has recently been predicted to land with Syracuse. It would only make sense for Illinois to go after Berrouet harder and get him to reclassify to 2027 to replace the potential of Kamissoko in the lineup.
Illinois has a lot of lines in the water, with some big fish swimming around the boat. Let’s see if Underwood can catch a few to help the Orange and Blue have some of the greatest recruiting classes we have ever seen.
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