Illinois Basketball: Illini land in top 5 for 2025 4-star point guard

A big-time Illinois basketball recruiting target is down to just five teams.

The Illini class of 2024 is building out nicely. We have three commitments with the highest-rated recruit being Morez Johnson Jr. He had another big week of high school basketball and continues to rise in the recruiting rankings.

Johnson helps elevate the Illinois class of 2024 to No. 21 in the country. While we have essentially locked up another top-25 recruiting class, Brad Underwood and the Illinois coaching staff have their eyes set on landing the program’s first class of 2025 commitment.

There are plenty of lines in the water right now, and Illinois is looking to land a big fish. On Tuesday night, the Illini got a step closer to landing that big fish when Jeremiah Fears cut his top list down to just five teams. The five programs vying for his commitment include Providence, Kansas, Ole Miss, Michigan, and Illinois.

Illinois basketball target Jeremiah Fears kept a big name off his top five

Landing Fears would be huge for all five programs on his list. Fears is a 6-foot-3, 175-pound point guard from Compass Pep out in Arizona. He is rated as a four-star recruit and ranked as the No. 35 player in the class of 2025. He is also the No. 6 point guard in the country and the No. 2 player coming out of Arizona.

I found the top five for Fears kind of surprising. I wasn’t so surprised to see the teams on the list, but I was more surprised that Michigan State didn’t make the cut. The Spartans had success landing his brother, Jeremy Fears, who is currently a freshman in East Lansing.

When I look at the top five, I think Illinois has a legitimate shot to win the Fears sweepstakes. This kid isn’t from Arizona, as he is from Joliet, Illinois, and attended Joliet West High School before transferring out to Compass Prep.

Illinois has also been recruiting Fears since September 2021. We were one of his first scholarship offers, and the Illini coaching staff hasn’t let up since their original offer.

This is a big top five. Fears is one of the best players in the class of 2025, and Illinois landing back-to-back top 40 recruits would be huge for the program. Hopefully, this big recruitment lands in favor of the Orange and Blue.