It looks like the Illinois basketball team might be making some headway with a big-time 2025 recruit.
Just a few weeks ago, the Illini had the top class in the country for 2025. We had a five-star in Will Riley pledged, and our point guard of the future was going to be Jeremiah Fears.
Well, now Illinois is looking at zero commitments thus far. Riley and Fears both reclassified to the class of 2024. While Riley still remained committed and signed, Fears decided to bolt and head for greener pastures.
Illinois is now looking for the first commitment of the 2025 class. It seems that the Illini might be gaining some momentum with Cayden Boozer.
Boozer is a 6-foot-4, 190-pound point guard from Columbus High School in Florida. He is rated as a five-star recruit and ranked as the No. 19 player in the class of 2025. He is also the No. 3 point guard in the country and the No. 3 player coming out of Florida.
On Thursday, Derek Piper of 247Sports posted on social media that in the past week, Illinois’ coaching staff had a Zoom meeting with Boozer. In that meeting, the Illini offered Boozer a scholarship.
#Illini are making a late push for 5-star PG Cayden Boozer, who Orlando Antigua was previously recruiting at Kentucky.
— Derek Piper (@DPiper247) July 18, 2024
Brad Underwood & Co. had a Zoom with him this week & extended an offer.
"They're a good school that produces NBA talent."
READ: https://t.co/bdxeGrLVYH pic.twitter.com/eAHo2tHthB
Another note in this recruitment is that now-Illinois assistant coach Orlando Antigua was recruiting Boozer when he was on the staff at Kentucky. He went to see Boozer play on multiple occasions in 2023.
This seems to be a massive uphill battle for the Illinois basketball team to land Cayden Boozer for the class of 2025
Just seeing Illinois’ name mentioned with top recruits like Boozer is exciting. The son of former NBA star Carlos Boozer, Cayden would be a huge get for the Orange and Blue.
While we have offered Boozer a scholarship and Antigua recruited him while at Kentucky, I believe this is still probably a massive uphill battle for Illinois.
Not only is Kentucky likely still involved, but I imagine Arkansas will back up the Brinks truck now that John Calipari is their head coach. That is a lot of firepower to mess with.
Illinois was able to pull Will Riley from those two programs, though. I am by no means giving up hope that we can land a player like Boozer. But for me, I am pulling back my expectations a little bit. If we can get an official visit from Boozer, then it is game on.