5-star Illinois basketball commit still holding strong in ESPN recruiting rankings

Illinois basketball commit Jeremiah Fears is staying strong in the most updated ESPN recruiting rankings.

Since Brad Underwood took over the Illini program, recruiting has been taken to another level. He has Illinois recruiting on a competitive level, and now all that is left is winning in the postseason.

Incredibly talented recruits have come through the Illinois basketball program in the Underwood era. Current NBA talent Ayo Dosunmu and big man Kofi Cockburn are two of the more notable names. Illinois has another great big man in Morez Johnson Jr. entering in 2024 as well.

While all of those players are great, and Johnson is going to be insane for the Orange and Blue, Underwood might have the best recruit he has ever landed coming in from the class of 2025.

On Monday, ESPN released its updated recruiting rankings for the 2025 class. Illinois has one commit thus far, and that player is Jeremiah Fears. The talented guard remained steady in the updated rankings as the No. 16 player in the class of 2025. He also maintained his five-star status and is the No. 4 point guard in the country and the best player coming out of Illinois.

Fears gives Illinois the top committed recruit for 2025, so that means, as of right now, we have the top recruiting class in the country. I want to soak this in for a while.

The last player of Fears’ recruiting caliber to come through the doors in Champaign was Dee Brown. He had a similar recruiting ranking when he was coming to Illinois from the class of 2002. Rivals still has Brown’s recruiting profile up, and he was a five-star and the No. 2 point guard in his recruiting class.

With Jeremiah Fears in the fold, Illinois basketball has a chance to do some special things on the court

Fears is a game changer for the Illini. I have hope that Johnson isn’t a one-and-done, so if he sticks around for a second year, Illinois is going to have an incredible team.

Illinois also has two other four-star recruits, Jase Butler and Jason Jakstys, entering from the 2024 class. If you pair those four players with Amani Hansberry, Dra Gibbs-Lawhorn, and Niccolo Moretti who are already on the roster, that forms a great unit.

I haven’t even mentioned the additional players Illinois can land from the class of 2025. Fears is just the beginning of what could be one of the greatest recruiting classes in program history. The future is so bright.