Brad Underwood changes his game plan every season when it comes to Illinois basketball recruiting.
If you look at each of the Underwood recruiting classes, there is a little bit of a different approach each year. For 2025, the Illini brought in a nice mix of talent. Some years, it is heavy on the transfer portal. Other years, we bring in a lot of freshmen.
We have yet to see what Underwood’s game plan is for the class of 2026. Illinois hasn’t, obviously, landed a transfer portal player. We haven’t pulled in an overseas player. And we haven’t had a high school player commit just yet.
On Sunday, Illinois started to recruit an interesting player. Colin Rice took to social media to announce that he had received a scholarship offer from the Illini.
After a great call with Coach Underwood and Coach Hamer I’m blessed to say I have received an offer from the University of Illinois! Go Illini! pic.twitter.com/yIrZtos2u5
— Colin Rice (@colinlrice) June 8, 2025
Rice isn’t a highly-ranked recruit, though. The 6-foot-7, 180-pound small forward is a three-star recruit who is the No. 59 small forward in the country and the No. 3 player coming out of Iowa.
Here is the thing, 247Sports hasn’t evaluated the talented wing. Rice isn’t officially in the 247Sports rankings, as the numbers above are only the composite rankings, which compile other recruiting sites into a ranking. 247Sports National Staff Writer, Brandon Jenkins, mentioned back in late-May that Rice could be seeing his name in the 247Sports class of 2026 rankings when they are updated in June.
Colin Rice brings the flavor of a recent Illinois basketball player to the court
Rice is a fun player to watch. This kid has incredible length, as he plays longer than 6-foot-7. His length enables him to be great on the defensive end of the court, which is a shocker at the high school level. You usually see more of the me-mentality and less of a lockdown defense.
I believe Rice would come into the Illinois program and be a key contributor at the No. 4 spot. He is someone who could stretch the floor and put points on the board. When I watch his game, he reminds me a lot of someone like Will Riley, but with better defense.
Rice is also in the middle of his AAU season with Martin Brothers 17U in the Under Armour Next league. Through seven games, he is averaging 20.6 points, 7.4 rebounds, 2.0 assists, and 1.6 blocks per game. Rice is also hitting 73% from the free throw line, 46% from the field, and 34% from three-point range.
It will be interesting to see if Illinois can get in the mix for Rice, though. Back in May, he had a Crystal Ball Prediction submitted in favor of Iowa to land Rice. It looks like Rice also took an official visit to Iowa on June 4 and will be in to see Nebraska on June 15.
Illinois has some work to do, but Rice is worth it. This kid’s star is rising quickly, and he would be a great addition, especially on the defensive end of the court.