9. Shelden Williams
Illinois was in the running for some big-time players in the 2000s. One of the biggest issues in that 2005 national championship game was that our big man depth was hit, and we were up against someone in Sean May who was a monster.
Landing someone like Shelden Williams would have cured all of those issues. He was a 6-foot-9, 240-pound big man who was rated as a five-star recruit in the class of 2002. Illinois had plenty of big-time talent come in from that class, but Williams would have been the icing on the cake.
According to Mike Sullivan of Rivals, Williams made his commitment to Duke after an in-home visit. If he didn’t make that commitment, Illinois was slated to get an official visit from the big man, and that could have changed everything.
Williams went on to be an All-American for the Blue Devils. He averaged 15.5 points, 11.2 rebounds, 3.7 blocks, and 1.3 steals per game during the 2004-05 campaign. If Illinois has someone like Williams in the paint, that national title is ours. He would be anchoring the middle with James Augustine coming off the bench. That would have been an insane squad.