To To subscribe, click here.
Sign up for our daily basketball newsletter here
Welcome to Good Morning, Illini Nation, your daily dose of college basketball news from Illini sportswriter and AP Top 25 pick Scott Richey. Each morning he shares insight on Brad Underwood’s team and college basketball in general:
As of the latest update to 247Sports’ Class of 2024 rankings, Illinois’ offseason haul rose to 15th in the country among freshmen, 19th among transfer additions and 10th overall when all 10 new recruits are included.
The big signing, of course, was Will Riley. The five-star guard landed at No. 20 in the class of 2024 after reclassifying, according to 247Sports. The 6-foot-8 Canadian is the top Illinois recruit in the modern rankings era, overtaking… fellow Illini freshman Morez Johnson Jr. It’s pretty clear that Brad Underwood has been working with this class.
Illinois got a boost beyond Riley, however, as international freshmen Kasparas Jakucionis and Tomislav Ivisic earned 247Sports rankings. Jakucionis was ranked No. 36 in the class of 2024, while Ivisic came in at No. 51.
As for transfers, Illinois was able to sign four players rated four stars by 247Sports. Kylan Boswell topped that list, but Ben Humrichous, Carey Booth and Tre White followed closely behind. While Boswell, Booth and White’s transfer rankings were lower than their high school rankings, Humrichous was not recruited at all at the Division I level – he began his career at NAIA Huntington University (Ind.) – and became a highly ranked player after one season in Evansville.
247Sports’ full top-10 rankings with combined high school and transfer recruiting are as follows (and note the top three, all of which are on Illinois’ schedule):
- duke
- Alabama
- Arkansas
- Baylor
- North Carolina
- Connecticut
- State of Arizona
- Kansas
- Rutgers
- Illinois
