Illinois basketball trying to get into mix for best recruit in South Carolina

The Illinois basketball program has been on the recruiting trail lately trying to build a solid class for 2025.

Right now, the Illini have zero commitments for the 2025 class. The coaching staff sees a need to start pulling in some talent, so the recruitment seems to have ramped up recently.

A couple of days ago, Illinois came in with a big offer to a nice stretch No. 4 in Spencer Ahrens. He is a great shooting big man who could help the program a lot. A solid running mate for Ahrens would be someone like Trey Maddox.

Maddox is a 6-foot-6, 180-pound small forward from Gray Academy in South Carolina. He is rated as a four-star recruit and ranked as the No. 116 player in the class of 2025. He is also the No. 23 small forward in the country and the best player coming out of South Carolina.

On Tuesday, Maddox took to social media to announce that Illinois had come in with a scholarship offer. The Illini join roughly 12 other programs to see Maddox’s potential at the next level.

I am curious how Illinois basketball recruiting target Trey Maddox progresses over his senior year

Last season, Maddox helped his Grey Academy team to great heights in South Carolina. The program finished 31-6 overall. They entered the Class AA state tournament and ended up winning the championship.

As a junior, Maddox averaged 10.1 points, 3.8 rebounds, and 1.0 steals per game. Those are solid numbers for a wildly successful team. I will be keeping an eye on his shooting over his senior season, though.

Maddox didn’t shoot well as a junior. He only hit 26% of his three-point attempts and shot 69% from the free throw line. Both of those numbers have to increase greatly or this kid could struggle at the next level.

Another thing that I noticed was that 247Sports continues to drop Maddox in their rankings. I know recruiting sites aren’t the be-all and end-all, but in 2022, Maddox was No. 38 in the class of 2025. A year later, he was No. 77 in the nation. He is now No. 116 in the 2025 class.

I am excited to see Maddox develop and hopefully have a great senior campaign. This great senior season will also hopefully end in another state championship.