Illinois basketball taps into a once fertile recruiting ground for big commitment

Thanksgiving Day started off the right way for the Illinois basketball program, as we added a commitment for the future.

The Illini have done a great job recruiting in the Brad Underwood era. The most recent group to join the team had a nice mix of freshmen, overseas, and transfer portal talent. Illinois has already started to add to the class of 2026 as well.

Three players are signed up for the 2026 class, which is led by Lucas Morillo, a four-star recruit and the No. 56 player in the country. While that class is nowhere near finished, Illinois has already started to make inroads on the class of 2027, too.

On Thursday, Joe Tipton of On3.com reported that Illinois has landed a commitment from Quinton Kitt. The quote from Kitt reads, “I’m ready to work and represent my state.”

Illinois landed a good one in Kitt. He is a 6-foot-6, 205-pound power forward from East Peoria High School in Illinois. He is rated as a three-star recruit and ranked as the No. 114 player in the class of 2027. He is also the No. 15 power forward in the country and the No. 2 player coming out of Illinois.

I am not looking too much into the three-star status of Kitt. There is plenty of time for him to grow and develop, but clearly, teams see a ton of potential in his play.

Kitt already had some big-time offers. In addition to Illinois, Kitt also had offers from Michigan, Northwestern, and Iowa, to name a few.

The Peoria area was once a huge recruiting ground for the Illinois basketball program

It is pretty fascinating that Illinois is diving back into the local area. We haven’t really focused too much on in-state recruiting in the last few years, but the Kitt commitment is from an area that was once coveted not only for the Illini but for the country.

Kitt is coming from East Peoria, and some of the best recruits over the past 30 years for the Illini have come from nearby Peoria. Names like Frank Williams, Sergio McClain, and Marcus Griffin were the key to the success of the Illini in the late 1990s and early 2000s.

Brian Randle took the mantle after them, and he was from East Peoria, and he went to Peoria Notre Dame. At one time, Jamar Smith had a bright future with the program, and he went to Peoria Richwoods. Bill Cole also emerged from the talent-rich Peoria Richwoods.

The decade turned to the 2010s, and the Peoria products continued. DJ Richardson hailed from Peoria Central. Years later, Illinois would land another Peoria Manual product in Da’Monte Williams. A couple of years after the Williams commitment, Illinois landed Adam Miller, who was originally from Peoria Manual. And now, after a little bit of a wait, Illinois is back in the Peoria market. Kitt is a great get and one that will be a fan favorite for years to come.