Brad Underwood Remains Active On Recruiting Trail, Offering Nearly Everyone

While most teams have resolved their rosters for the upcoming season, things remain active on the recruiting trail. And the Illinois Fighting Illini are no exception. Head coach Brad Underwood has been active over the last few weeks, putting out a plethora of offers.

Let’s take a look at these offers and what they could mean.

-2019 SG Christian Braun

Braun comes out of Overland Park, Kansas and is currently unranked on 247Sports. He is listed at 6-foot-4 and 175 pounds by the recruiting site. Along with Illinois, he has also been offered by DePaul, Kansas State, Minnesota, Ole Miss, and Wake Forest among others.

While Braun doesn’t project to be an elite prospect, he could provide depth at a position that looks relatively thin on the roster heading into the 2019-’20 season. He also comes out of Underwood’s old recruiting territory. If Braun can be anything like some of Underwood’s former prospects at Stephen F. Austin, watch out.

-2019 PF Victor Iwuakor

Iwuakor comes out of Sulphur Springs, Texas and is currently rated as a three-star prospect by 247Sports. The recruiting site currently slates him as the 13th best prospect out of the state of Texas and lists him at 6-foot-8 and 210 pounds. Along with Illinois, he has also been offered by Arkansas, Baylor, Oklahoma, and Oregon among others.

Heading into next season, Illinois projects to be pretty deep at the three and four spots. However, adding a prospect with impressive athleticism and size never hurts. Iwuakor should have a lot of upside for wherever he lands at the next level. The Crystal Ball on 247Sports currently favors Arkansas and Oklahoma.

-2019 SF Tray Jackson

Jackson comes out of the Detroit area and is currently rated as a four-star prospect by 247Sports. The recruiting site currently slates him as the fourth best prospect out of the state and lists him at 6-foot-8 and 200 pounds. Along with Illinois, he has also been offered by DePaul, Minnesota, Oklahoma, and Xavier among others.

Although Jackson has not attracted elite interest from the in-state schools, he’s a solid college prospect and has a fair number of suitors. The Crystal Ball on 247Sports currently favors Oklahoma. However, most still see this as a recruitment that’s up for grabs.

-2019 PF Kadin Shedrick

Shedrick comes out of Holy Springs, North Carolina and is currently not rated by 247Sports. The recruiting site currently lists him at 6-foot-10 and 200 pounds. Along with Illinois, he has also been offered by Arizona State, Creighton, Minnesota, Nebraska, Ole Miss, and Xavier among others.

As mentioned above, the three and four spots should be relatively deep for Illinois heading into the 2019-’20 season. However, Shedrick could help provide depth at an important position for the future. No Crystal Balls have been entered for Shedrick as of this post.

-2020 PF JaQuan Scott

Scott comes out of Arlington, Texas and is currently unranked by 247Sports. The recruiting site currently lists him at 6-foot-8 and 200 pounds. Along with Illinois, he has also been offered by Miami (FL), TCU, and UTEP among others. He is another prospect that would theoretically provide depth at the four spot.

-2021 SF Jonathan Kuminga

Kuminga comes out of Huntington, West Virginia and is ranked as a five-star prospect by 247Sports. The recruiting site lists him at 6-foot-8 and 195 pounds. He is also ranked as the top power forward in the 2021 recruiting cycle and the No. 3 player nationally. Other schools to offer include Maryland, Memphis, TCU, and Xavier among others.

Generally speaking, there just isn’t a whole lot to take away on Kuminga’s recruitment at this point. There are no Crystal Ball projects right now and he still has way too long to go before he arrives on a college campus. Illinois will hope it can remain in the picture as we move forward.

-2021 PG Khristian Lander

Lander comes out of Evansville, Indiana and is ranked as a four-star prospect by 247Sports. The recruiting site lists him at 5-foot-11 and 150 pounds. He is currently ranked as the top player in the state of Indiana and as the top point guard in the nation for the 2021 class. We will see if Illinois can remain in Lander’s good graces.

-2021 SF Nate Santos

Santos comes out of Windsor, Connecticut and is currently unranked by 247Sports. He is listed at 6-foot-7 and 180 pounds and has also been offered by Creighton and TCU. Like Lander, it’s still “wait and see” with Santos’ recruitment right now.