2017 Three-Star Power Forward Gregory Eboigbodin Commits To Illinois Fighting Illini

Late Tuesday night, the Illinois Fighting Illini got some big news out of the Great Lakes State as the Illini picked up a commitment from 2017 prospect Gregory Eboigbodin. He becomes the program’s fourth 2017 commitment.

Eboigbodin is far from an elite prospect. He is rated as the No. 440 prospect nationally in the 2017 class and the No. 7 player in Michigan by 247Sports. His three-star rating implies that he’s capable of playing at the Big Ten level, but fans shouldn’t expect a player who can make a major impact in year one. It’s the simple reality of adding a late prospect to fill an open scholarship.

Prior to committing Illinois, Eboigbodin had previously been committed to UIC and his offer sheet was almost exclusive to mid-major programs. In fact, outside of an offer from Pitt, his “best” offer was likely from DePaul. Again, this shouldn’t take fans by surprise given the timing of his commitment, but needs to be kept in mind.

Nonetheless, even if Eboigbodin isn’t an elite prospect that fans should expect to make a major contribution from day one, he’s an important pickup. Illinois had four open scholarships for next season before his commitment without many great options to fill the spot. Even if he’s not a five-star, getting a quality midwestern prospect to occupy one of those open scholarship spots is a nice addition.

Illinois and new head coach Brad Underwood still have a lot of work to do before next season, but the program got better on Tuesday night with a key commitment. Fans will now have to wait to see if any further additions are made.