5 Illinois basketball top priority recruits after Will Riley commitment

Nik Khamenia - Class of 2025

There are plenty of names available in the next couple of recruiting classes, and a rising player on the list of wanted recruits is Nik Khamenia.

Khamenia is a 6-foot-8, 210-pound forward from Harvard Westlake High School in California. He is rated as a four-star recruit and ranked as the No. 29 player in the class of 2025. He is also the No. 9 power forward in the country and the No. 3 player coming out of California.

There has only been one official visit for Khamenia on the books, and that was to Gonzaga. He has a ton of interest from numerous programs, including the likes of Illinois.

Illinois has been recruiting Khamenia for the past year or so. Back in early June, he made the squad and won gold for Team USA in the U18 AmeriCup, a roster that also included Illinois big man Morez Johnson Jr. and future Illini guard Jeremiah Fears.

Khamenia averaged 7.7 points, 6.4 rebounds, 3.0 assists, and 1.0 steals per game in that tournament. Since then, he has mentioned that he does want to take a visit to Illinois. Illini assistant coach Geoff Alexander went and watched Khamenia just a little over a week ago as well.

I think this is a serious recruitment to watch. Illinois has been working on Khamenia for quite some time. We will also have room in the frontcourt in 2025. Will Riley is coming into the program, but he is reclassifying and will likely be a one-and-done. That should open the door for Khamenia.