Huge 4-star paint player keeps Illinois basketball in top 8

The women’s Illinois basketball team continues to be in the running for some of the top recruits in the country.

While the winning on the court has been impressive for the Illini, Shauna Green has also brought winning off the court in the recruiting game.

Illinois’ team is comprised of some pretty big transfer portal gets when Green took the job. Players like Makira Cook and Genesis Bryant have been huge for the Illini the last two seasons, and they will suit up and make another run for the program this year.

Regular recruiting has taken a big leap forward as well. Gretchen Dolan is going to be a star for this program when the super seniors depart. Illinois also has five-star Berry Wallace entering the program this year. She will help tremendously on the wing. Five-star recruits were unheard of at Illinois before Green.

Illinois is working on building out quite the class of 2025 as well. While we don’t have a commitment yet, there has been plenty of interest. The latest player to eye the Illini is Layla Hays.

On Saturday night, Hays reposted on social media a post and graphic that says she has cut her list to just eight programs. The eight teams to make Hays’ list include Nebraska, Washington, Gonzaga, Indiana, Iowa, North Carolina, Duke, and Illinois.

This would be another huge addition to the Illinois roster, as Hays is one of the top players in the country. Premier Basketball has her as a four-star recruit who is ranked as the No. 63 player in the class of 2025.

Illinois basketball adding a player like Layla Hays would make the transition away from Kendall Bostic a little easier

As I mentioned earlier, Illinois has a few super seniors who will depart the program after the 2024-25 campaign. While Cook and Bryant are two massive pieces who will depart from the backcourt, Kendall Bostic only has one more season anchoring the Illini frontcourt.

Last season, Bostic averaged 12.1 points, 10.9 rebounds, 1.7 assists, and 1.0 steals per game. She is dominant in the paint, and every once in a while, shows off her sneaky three-point shooting ability. But that production is gone after this upcoming season.

To combat the inevitable reality that Bostic is leaving, Green focused on building size on the Illinois roster. 6-foot-6 Hayven Smith entered from the class of 2024. We also snagged a couple of solid transfer portal bigs in Shay Bollin last season and this offseason, Lety Vasconcelos transferred in from Baylor. Both players are 6-foot-3 and 6-foot-7, respectively.

Getting another quality player like Hays into the program who has size would be so valuable to the Illinois frontcourt. She will hopefully be a part of the movement to make Illinois one of the most feared teams in the Big Ten.