Illinois basketball always needs players who can light it up from the outside, and we are one step closer to landing one for the future.
While the Illini have yet to tip off the 2025-26 season, there is still plenty of work for Brad Underwood and the coaching staff. They have to continuously work on the recruiting trail to essentially reload every year.
Quentin Coleman is one of the more interesting targets for Illinois right now. The Illini came in with a scholarship offer back in late July, and now Coleman has cut his recruitment down to just six teams. The six programs to make his top list include Texas A&M, Texas Tech, Wake Forest, Saint Louis, Iowa, and Illinois.
4⭐️ Quentin Coleman is down to six schools, he tells @Rivals.
— Joe Tipton (@TiptonEdits) August 18, 2025
The 6-3 shooting guard and top-80 recruit breaks down his finalists: https://t.co/7mUreQsqx8 pic.twitter.com/SgFg8K2JwD
On paper, this doesn’t seem like an Earth-shattering recruitment. Coleman is a 6-foot-3, 170-pound shooting guard from The Principia School in Missouri. He is rated as a three-star recruit and ranked as the No. 167 player in the class of 2026. He is also the No. 26 shooting guard in the country and the No. 7 player coming out of Missouri.
Don’t let the rankings fool you, though. Coleman is much better than what is on paper. Just this summer, he helped lead the Bradley Beal Elite AAU program to a Peach Jam title in the EYBL. Coleman was a huge part of that team, averaging 14.1 points, 5.2 rebounds, and 3.6 assists per game.
Quentin Coleman’s three-point shooting could help the Illinois basketball program greatly
When a player like Coleman can put up those numbers on his way to an EYBL title, he is much better than a three-star recruit. Those are some of the best players in the country fighting for that Peach Jam championship, and Coleman took it from them.
What really stood out to me, and the big thing that could help the Illini, is Coleman’s three-point shooting. Usually, AAU athletes are a bit sloppy with the basketball. That isn’t the case with Coleman. He hit 38.7% of his three-pointers during the AAU season.
If you compare that to the Illini, our best three-point shooter was our big man, Tomislav Ivisic, who hit 35.7% from three-point range. Illinois only had two guards shoot better than 30% from three-point range last season – Tre White at 32.9% and Kasparas Jakucionis at 31.8% - and neither player is on the team anymore.
Underwood knows what he wants in a player. He has a great eye for talent. I think Coleman would be a huge get for the program, as I think he will end up being in the top 60 nationally for the class of 2026 when it is all said and done.