5 big-time Illinois basketball recruiting targets from the Peach Jam

The 2024 EYBL Peach Jam has now concluded, and the Illinois basketball team had multiple recruits playing in the competition.

Some of these big-time recruits are for the immediate future and others are down the road. But no matter what, the relationships the Illini are building with some of these recruits will pay dividends for the program sometime over the next few years.

While there are a lot of names out there for Illinois to pursue, there are a few players who played in the Peach Jam to keep an eye on.

Here are five big-time Illinois basketball recruiting targets from the Peach Jam

Jasper Johnson – Class of 2025

There are a couple of names at the top of the list when it comes to Illinois basketball recruiting. One of those names is Jasper Johnson.

Johnson is a 6-foot-4, 175-pound shooting guard from Link Academy in Missouri. He is rated as a five-star recruit and ranked as the No. 12 player in the class of 2025. He is also the No. 2 shooting guard in the country and the best player coming out of Missouri.

In the Peach Jam, Johnson laced up the sneakers for Team Thad. He averaged 19.8 points, 3.2 assists, 2.8 rebounds, and 1.2 steals per game in five contests. Overall, Johnson struggled from the field as his team went 2-3 overall. Johnson only shot 37.9% from the field and 25.5% from three-point range.

Just days ago, Johnson announced he would be playing his senior year with OTE, Overtime Elite, which is a prep program. He is being pursued by a wide range of programs including Illinois.

So far, Johnson has taken eight official visits, one of which was to Illinois about a month ago. On Friday, Derek Piper of 247Sports reported that Johnson was nearing a decision and that Illinois is “continuing to put up a fight.”