Illinois basketball secures official visit from huge 5-star recruit Jasper Johnson

Don’t look now, but the Illinois basketball team is getting an official visit from another big-time recruit.

The Illini are bringing in one of the top recruits in the country for 2024 with the addition of Morez Johnson Jr. The big man is going to be great for the Illinois frontcourt.

Brad Underwood and the Illinois coaching staff have already landed the point guard of the future in 2025 as well. Jeremiah Fears is a top-30 recruit and a high four-star talent who will be sensational for the program.

In addition to Fears and Johnson joining the program, Illinois is in serious contention for five-star forward Will Riley. The incredible big man is the No. 12 player in the 2025 class, and he is set to make a decision on June 23.

Illinois has been recruiting at a high level, and it doesn’t seem like that level of recruiting is stopping any time soon. In fact, Joe Tipton of On3.com reported on Wednesday that Illinois is getting an official visit from Jasper Johnson.

Johnson is a 6-foot-4, 170-pound shooting guard from Link Academy in Missouri. He is rated as a five-star recruit and ranked as the No. 10 player in the class of 2025. He is also the No. 4 shooting guard in the country and the No. 1 player coming out of the state of Missouri.

In the post by Tipton, he also mentions Alabama as getting an official visit as well.

The past month has helped put Illinois basketball in the driver’s seat for some big-time recruits like Jasper Johnson

It has been a crazy last few months for the Illini. We lost nearly our entire roster to either the transfer portal or the NBA. On top of that, one of our assistants, Chester Frazier, departed for West Virginia and took a couple of players with him.

Fast forward to today, and that departure now seems like it could be a blessing in disguise. As much as I loved Frazier, his departure opened the door for Orlando Antigua to come back into the mix. Since Antigua was brought back to Champaign from Kentucky, Illinois has been hustling on the recruiting front.

The Illini have been able to snag a few solid recruits who are going to build great depth on the roster, but moreover, the level of recruiting has increased.

I mentioned Riley earlier in the article, and he wasn’t even looking at Illinois until Antigua was hired. Now, I believe Illinois is the projected landing spot for the five-star recruit.

Back in January, Johnson released his top 10 teams. He didn’t have Illinois on that list. The projected leader for Johnson is currently Kentucky, but their entire coaching staff turned over, including the move of Antigua from Kentucky to Illinois. Now, the Illini are in the mix for Johnson.

Illinois was recruiting at a high level early on in the Underwood era. Antigua was on the staff, and we brought in players like Ayo Dosunmu and Kofi Cockburn. Antigua is back in the fold, and the recruiting level has been raised once again. Let’s land some big fish.