Skip to main content
Writing Illini
Fansided

Brad Underwood continues to strike gold with huge Illinois basketball commitment

Illinois basketball is barreling down on a national championship, and now the Illini coaching staff is landing a top 40 recruit
ByRees Woodcock|
Share on FacebookShare on XShare on Reddit
Google Discover
Principia Panthers guard Quentin Coleman (11) goes for a lay up during a City of Palms Classic semifinal game against the Paul VI Panthers at Suncoast Credit Union Arena in Fort Myers, Fla., on Monday, Dec. 22, 2025.
Principia Panthers guard Quentin Coleman (11) goes for a lay up during a City of Palms Classic semifinal game against the Paul VI Panthers at Suncoast Credit Union Arena in Fort Myers, Fla., on Monday, Dec. 22, 2025. | Brandon Belcher/Special to the News-Press / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

The Illinois basketball team is on the eve of playing in the Final Four, and while the team is in a great spotlight, the coaching staff is jumping on this opportunity.

Brad Underwood doesn’t want to squander this chance to not only bring the Illini our first national championship but to build the program into a powerhouse. We have a golden opportunity to build and build after this great run.

On Friday afternoon, that building continued. Quentin Coleman took to social media to announce that he was committing to Illinois.

This is a great get for the Illini. Coleman is a 6-foot-4, 180-pound shooting guard from The Principia School in Missouri. He is rated as a four-star recruit and ranked as the No. 34 player in the class of 2026. He is also the No. 5 shooting guard in the country and the No. 3 player coming out of Missouri.

Illinois’ victory in the Coleman recruitment wasn’t easy. We were battling some pretty big programs, as the talented shooting guard picked the Orange and Blue over the likes of Texas Tech, Wake Forest, and Iowa, to name a few.

The class of 2026 only continues to get stronger for the Illinois basketball program

It is no secret that the Illini will undergo some changes this offseason. We have the last few years, and this offseason won’t be any different.

These are good changes, though. Illinois has a talented team, and we are losing players due to the NBA, and not so much to the transfer portal.

Underwood is going to need to replace quite a few players, and the class of 2026 will help the cause. Coleman is a top 40 recruit. He joins Lucas Morillo, who is a top 60 player. We also have two under-the-radar guys coming in with the signings of Ethan Brown and Landon Davis.

Illinois hasn’t even fully hit the overseas market, either. There are always plenty of great options coming from Eastern Europe.

The rich keep getting richer. The crazy part is the fact that I am talking about us. Illinois is that team now. What a wild thing to say.

Home/Illinois Basketball