No. 3 Jalen Coleman-Lands
Coming out of high school, Jalen Coleman-Lands was arguably John Groce’s best recruit. He was a talented guard who could score at multiple levels and be an impact player for the Illini.
Coleman-Lands was a 6-foot-3, 160-pound point guard from La Lumiere School in Indiana. He was rated as a four-star recruit and ranked as the No. 38 player in the class of 2015. He was also the No. 9 point guard in the country and the No. 2 player coming out of Indiana.
Man, I thought Illinois landed a special player when we pulled in Coleman-Lands. He didn’t disappoint after year one either. Coleman-Lands averaged 10.3 points and 1.9 rebounds per game as a freshman. Year two was a downgrade, though, as he only averaged 8.0 points and 2.3 rebounds per game.
Groce was then fired and in stepped Brad Underwood. Coleman-Lands decided to bolt the program and picked DePaul as his landing spot. After sitting out a season, Coleman-Lands suited up and averaged 10.8 points, 2.7 rebounds, and 1.2 assists per game with the Blue Demons.
Coleman-Lands then transferred to Iowa State for a season where we averaged 14.3 points, 3.9 rebounds, and 1.2 assists per game. After one season with the Cyclones, Coleman-Lands transferred again and ended up with Kansas where he averaged 3.7 points per game.
A top-40 recruit nationally should be a game-changer. Illinois landed that type of player out of high school, but Coleman-Lands couldn’t live up to the billing. The high expectations and underperformance make him one of the biggest recruiting busts of all time.