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Illinois basketball superstar recruiting target lands in the top-20 of elite list

The Illinois basketball team is seeing a lot of potential in next year's recruiting class, especially with this top point guard making ESPN's top recruits list.
ByKellen Sherman|
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Apr 3, 2026; Indianapolis, IN, USA; Illinois Fighting Illini head coach Brad Underwood speaks during a press conference ahead of the Final Four of the men's 2026 NCAA Tournament at Lucas Oil Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Trevor Ruszkowski-Imagn Images
Apr 3, 2026; Indianapolis, IN, USA; Illinois Fighting Illini head coach Brad Underwood speaks during a press conference ahead of the Final Four of the men's 2026 NCAA Tournament at Lucas Oil Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Trevor Ruszkowski-Imagn Images | Trevor Ruszkowski-Imagn Images

The men's Illinois basketball program is fully prepared to make a deep run this upcoming season after a successful retention that brought back five of their key scorers from a year ago.

It was a dream scenario for Brad Underwood and the Illini, as Andrej Stojakovic, Jake Davis, David Mirkovic, and both Tomislav and Zvonimir Ivisic agreed to return to Champaign for the 2026-27 season.

But even with this year's roster all set, there is still plenty of recruiting that needs to be done. The Illini need to still prepare for the future, and it looks like they may have found a winner in Jaxson Davis from Gurnee.

Davis, a 6-foot-1 point guard from Warren Township High School, was recently named the No. 17 point guard in the country in ESPN's class of 2027 rankings. The former Illinois Mr. Basketball has been on Brad Underwood's radar for quite some time, especially after the school sent him an offer on April 28, 2024.

The No. 1 player in the state of Illinois joins seven other point guards on this list who were extended offers by Illinois, including No. 3 Nasir Anderson, No. 4 Reese Alston, No. 5 Cayden Daughtry, and No. 6 Navorro Bowman.

Jaxson Davis is currently the frontrunner to be the point guard of the future for the Illinois basketball program

This offseason, Underwood received some monumental news when five-star recruit Quentin Coleman committed to Illinois after decommitting from Wake Forest. It was a major step in the program's retooling process after losing both Kylan Boswell and Keaton Wagler to the NBA Draft.

But next season, Illinois is going to need another point guard to pair with Coleman, and Davis could be the perfect person to join him in the backcourt. This young man is "one of the top on-ball playmakers in the class of 2027," per 247Sports, and would be the perfect complement when paired with Coleman or Stefan Vaaks.

Thankfully, the Illini are reportedly one of the favorites to land their in-state star with a 44.1% probability, according to On3's prediction model. But they will need to compete with the likes of the Purdue Boilermakers, who currently hold a 20% probability.

If Underwood can pull off this commitment, it would be huge for the future of the Illinois program, especially with Stojakovic, among others, heading to the NBA Draft at season's end. This team is going to need another electric disrupter who can score at all three levels with great efficiency, and Davis has all of the attributes to fill that role.

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