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Top 10 Illinois basketball recruiting busts of all time

Special talent has walked the State Farm Center floor, but the Illinois basketball team has also had some pretty big recruiting busts of the years.

By Rees Woodcock

Mar 17, 2022; Pittsburgh, PA, USA; Illinois Fighting Illini guard Andre Curbelo (5) and Fighting Illini guard Alfonso Plummer (11) stand on the court during practice before the first round of the 2022 NCAA Tournament at PPG Paints Arena. Mandatory Credit: Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports
Mar 17, 2022; Pittsburgh, PA, USA; Illinois Fighting Illini guard Andre Curbelo (5) and Fighting Illini guard Alfonso Plummer (11) stand on the court during practice before the first round of the 2022 NCAA Tournament at PPG Paints Arena. Mandatory Credit: Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports / Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports
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No. 2 Adam Miller

I mentioned Jereme Richmond earlier in this article, as he had talent but couldn’t put things together at Illinois. Adam Miller reminds me a lot of the great potential but never able to put it together with the Illini.

Miller was a 6-foot-3, 190-pound shooting guard from Morgan Park High School in Illinois. He was rated as a four-star recruit and ranked as the No. 33 player in the class of 2020. He was also the No. 6 shooting guard in the country and the No. 2 player coming out of Illinois.

This was one of the biggest recruiting gets in my lifetime. Landing Miller was huge for Brad Underwood and the program. On top of a great recruiting ranking, Miller was also the 2020 Illinois Mr. Basketball.

I had such high hopes for Miller. He was originally from Manuel High School in Peoria, and you know the rich history Illinois has with that high school program. Sadly, things went off the rails with Miller. Someone got into his head, and he didn’t last long in Champaign.

Miller started in 31 games as a freshman at Illinois. He averaged 8.3 points and 2.8 rebounds per contest. This was supposed to be the beginning of something special. Instead, after his first year, Miller decided to enter the transfer portal.

LSU was the next stop for Miller. He spent the 2021-22 campaign injured and came back in 2022-23 and averaged 11.5 points, 2.3 rebounds, and 1.7 assists per game. After that season, Miller transferred again and played the 2023-24 campaign with Arizona State. He averaged 12.0 points, 3.2 rebounds, and 1.6 assists per game with the Sun Devils.

I think Miller could have been an all-time great with Illinois. He could have been in the same breath with Dee Brown, Deron Williams, and Ayo Dosunmu. That all collapsed, though.

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