Recruiting never ends for the Illinois basketball program, as there are numerous big-time recruits on the board for the future.
On paper, the Illini class of 2025 is nothing to write home about. We didn’t have the flashy five-star commitment, and 247Sports has Illinois with the No. 45 class in the country.
Games aren’t played on paper, though. The players Brad Underwood managed to snag for 2025 fit in well with what we need on the court. He isn’t just focusing on recruiting for the upcoming season, though. The Illinois coaching staff is also on the road, trying to build relationships with future stars.
On Saturday, Ari Rosenfeld of Elite HS Recruiting posted on social media that a myriad of programs were in to watch Blair Academy and The Newman School at the Mid-Atlantic Independent School Team Camp.
In for @BlairAcademyMBB/@Newman_Hoops:
— Ari Rosenfeld (@ARosenfeldHoops) June 28, 2025
HC:
Clark
NC State
Lehigh
Columbia
Brown
Indiana
Hofstra
Rutgers
Purdue
Michigan
Marquette
Asst:
Syracuse
Tennessee
Alabama
Virginia
Alabama
Stanford
ND
Florida
Vandy
BYU
Illinois
Louisville
Michigan St
South Carolina
Kentucky
Penn St pic.twitter.com/OebwCOR81x
One of the teams mentioned was Illinois. We had an assistant show up at the camp, and there are a couple of big-time targets that could be the topic of discussion.
Illinois basketball is going after a couple of massive recruits for 2026
The first of the huge recruits Illinois was likely eyeing is Deron Rippey Jr. He is a 6-foot-2, 175-pound point guard from Blair Academy. He is rated as a five-star recruit and ranked as the No. 17 player in the class of 2026. He is also the No. 2 point guard in the country and the best player in New Jersey.
Rippey has every team in the country after him. He has roughly 44 scholarship offers, which is an insane number.
There are certain players you can look at and be like, yup, that is an NBA player. Rippey is one of those players. He is a lottery pick in the NBA Draft. Rippey has a little Darius Garland in him. I pray that Illinois can snag this kid.
The other player to keep an eye on is Quinn Costello. He is a 6-foot-10, 195-pound forward from The Newman School. Costello is rated as a four-star recruit and ranked as the No. 103 player in the class of 2026. He is also the No. 18 power forward in the country and the No. 3 player coming out of Massachusetts.
Costello might be 6-foot-10, but make no mistake about it, he is a perimeter player. This kid can shoot from long range with ease. It is natural to him, and he should be able to stretch the floor on the offensive end of the court. The ceiling is so high for him.