Thursday brought some bad recruiting news to the men’s Illinois basketball program.
The hope for the future was to land every single five-star recruit who was rumored to be looking at Illinois. There have been a lot of them, but that isn’t realistic.
While there is a ton of buzz when a five-star eyes the Orange and Blue, there will be some detractors. On Thursday, Illinois lost out on one of the top talents we were pursuing.
According to Joe Tipton of On3.com, NaVorro Bowman Jr. has decided to pick UConn as his landing spot.
This is a pretty disappointing development. Bowman is one of the best recruits in the country. He is a 6-foot-3, 185-pound combo guard from California. He is rated as a five-star recruit and ranked as the No. 11 player in the class of 2027.
Coming into the week, Bowman had plans for a few official visits. One of those visits was supposed to be to Illinois on September 10. That is no longer happening.
The news of Bowman picking UConn hurts, but Tipton also released some interesting news that piqued my interest.
Tipton reported that UConn will no longer have visits from three recruits. One of the recruits he named was King Gibson.
With the addition of NaVorro Bowman Jr., UConn will no longer host 5⭐️ PG Cayden Daughtry, Top-15 CG King Gibson, or Top-30 PG Micah Gordon for official visits, a source told @Rivals. https://t.co/RvvbZ45vux
— Joe Tipton (@JoeTipton) September 10, 2026
Gibson is a name that has surfaced in recent weeks. Illinois made Gibson’s top 10 cut back on August 27. With UConn now out of the picture, that means the Illini are one of his top nine.
Illinois landing Gibson would be big for the program. He is a 6-foot-4, 185-pound combo guard out of Ohio. He is rated as a five-star recruit and ranked as the No. 15 player in the class of 2027.
In addition to cutting his list, Gibson also started to schedule official visits. He already visited Louisville. He has plans to visit Arkansas on September 21, LSU on September 25, and Baylor on October 9.
Illinois doesn’t have an official visit yet, but with the news of the Huskies being locked out, that might mean more attention for the Illini and an official visit coming.
There are so many recruiting lines in the water for the Illinois basketball program
The future of the Illinois basketball program is in such good hands with Brad Underwood at the helm. I have never seen recruiting at such a high level.
Illinois has been in the mix for so many big-time recruits over the last few years, and Underwood has been able to land quite a few of those targets. The future still has plenty of options, too.
Just because Illinois missed out on Bowman doesn’t signal the end of the world. We already have two commitments and a top 10 recruiting class for 2027. Two five-star recruits, Darius Wabbington and Moussa Kamissoko, are set to visit in the next couple of months. We also have Gibson eyeing Illinois for his top nine right now.
For the class of 2028, Illinois has two five-star recruits, Brady Pettigrew and Bentley Lusakueno, set to take official visits in the next couple of months as well.
The future is bright for the Illini. We have plenty of options out there in the water, and it is up to Underwood and the coaching staff to reel them in and build the roster. I trust they will do so, as they have done in the past.
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