Rare frontcourt talent elevates Illinois basketball expectations for 2024-25

Illinois basketball has seen some good recruiting classes in the past, but you will be hard-pressed to find one that stands up to the class of 2024.

There are many different angles you can take to make the case that the 2024 class is the best, on paper, in the history of the Illini program. I could mention the five-star forward in Will Riley and the great four-star combo guard from Lithuania, Kasparas Jakucionis. Both players are projected to be picked in the first round of the 2025 NBA Draft.

You could take the path of the transfer portal to claim this is one of the greatest Illinois basketball recruiting classes. Four out of the five transfer portal commitments are four-stars, and the lone non-four-star is a player in Jake Davis who shot 38.7% from three-point range last season as a freshman.

All of those are great reasons to think the class of 2024 could be pretty special. The thing is, I haven’t even mentioned the Champaign Giants.

The experience is coming in from the great transfer portal class. Illinois has an incredible backcourt with the transfers and a few of the incoming freshmen. Brad Underwood also solidified the frontcourt.

Morez Johnson Jr. has been the centerpiece of the Illinois class of 2024 since he committed back on November 5, 2021. He remained committed throughout, and at the end of the day, 247Sports has him as the second-highest-rated recruit in its ranking era, dating back to 2003.

Just days ago, 247Sports also updated its recruiting rankings. Previously not ranked or rated, Illinois commit Tomislav Ivisic is now a four-star recruit who is the No. 51 player in the class of 2024.

Brad Underwood is bringing in some rare size to the Illinois basketball frontcourt

It is not hyperbole when I say that Illinois fans haven’t seen anything like what we are about to witness in the frontcourt in 2024. Or, at best, it has been a very long time.

I mean, Johnson is the second-highest-rated recruit for the Illini since 2003. That alone registers him as the best big man on paper in the last couple of decades. You then add a top 55 recruit in Ivisic, who stands at 7-foot, 230 pounds, and the Illinois frontcourt is going to be a force.

The last great big man Illinois had was Kofi Cockburn. He was a special talent in the paint, but he didn’t have the great one-two punch to go alongside him in the frontcourt. While a fan favorite, Giorgi Bezhanishvili was very limited.

Meyers Leonard was the most recent great big man before Kofi. He didn’t play much as a freshman, and he didn’t have another big man to help him in the paint.

In the mid-2000s, Illinois dabble in the big man waters. The duo of Mike Tisdale and Mike Davis was solid. Before them, it was James Augustine and Shaun Pruitt. Before them, it was Augustine and Brian Cook.

I would argue, that the last time Illinois’ frontcourt size and talent knocked my socks off was the turn of the century. That 2000-01 Illinois basketball team had some of the best and most talented frontcourt size I have ever seen.

The combination of Robert Archibald, Cook, and Marcus Griffin, all at least 6-foot-9, was one for the ages. Archibald wasn’t ranked because he moved to Missouri from Scotland in 1998. Cook was a top 20 player in the class of 1999. Griffin was a Parade All-American in 1997 but had to go to junior college because of his grades.

These three towers formed an incredible frontcourt. The result? An Elite 8 appearance and just a six-point loss to an Arizona team that consisted of Gilbert Arenas and Richard Jefferson, among others.

That was the last time Illinois had at least two elite big men in the paint. And, much like the team we see today, Illinois had a great backcourt during that 2000-01 campaign. Frank Williams and Cory Bradford were incredible guards for the Illini.

Expectations are good. I didn’t have expectations for this program before Underwood took over. Now, I am at a place where it is close to Final 4 or bust every season. Illinois has the roster to get to those heights this season, and I think the frontcourt duo of Johnson and Ivisic could be one of the catalysts to get us there.