The Illinois basketball team is coming down from the high of a wild ride in the class of 2024.
I can sit here and say that I have never seen a class this talented coming into the Illini program. Yes, we have had players like five-star Dee Brown come in with Deron Williams and James Augustine, but on paper, that class was not as talented as what we are seeing entering this season.
Illinois finished with the No. 10 class in the country, which includes the No. 15 freshman class and the No. 19 transfer portal class.
With this great group of players now in tow, it is time to start focusing on the class of 2025. Right now, Illinois doesn’t have a single commitment, and honestly, I am not sure who the first domino would be.
On Tuesday, we got a glimpse of a player Illinois is starting to pursue even harder now. Adam Zagoria of the New York Times and Forbes reported that there are some new suitors for Shon Abaev. He also quote retweeted that post and mentioned that Arkansas, Illinois, and Florida State are also planning to reach out and see Abaev in September.
Arkansas, Illinois and Florida State have also reached out and plan to see @shon_abaev next month during open gyms. https://t.co/frPT3rZtFJ
— Adam Zagoria (@AdamZagoria) August 13, 2024
Shon Abaev is not a new name to the Illinois basketball recruiting trail
Abaev would be a great first piece for the Illini class of 2025. He is a 6-foot-7, 196-pound small forward from Calvary Christian Academy in Florida. He is rated as a four-star recruit and ranked as the No. 44 player in the class of 2025. He is also the No. 8 small forward in the country and the No. 8 player coming out of Florida.
This isn’t a new name to the Illinois recruiting scene, though. The Illini were recruiting Abaev, and the two seemed to have a good connection over the past year.
I believe the relationship broke apart when Chester Frazier departed for West Virginia. It does seem that Illinois is making another push for Abaev, as the program is bigger than one coach.
I thought we were out of this recruitment. I marked Abaev off the list a couple of months ago. Now that Illinois is reported to be going in to watch him and meet with him, look for the Illini to be a real player again in this recruitment.