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On Thursday, the Illinois Fighting Illini got some exciting news as 2020 prospect Brandon Lieb announced that he would be committing to the program. This is good news for Brad Underwood and his staff as it tries to fill depth upfront in the event the team loses Kofi Cockburn to the NBA Draft.
COMMMITTED #illini pic.twitter.com/N26bC4MAur
— Brandon Lieb (@brandonlieb12) June 25, 2020
Lieb is listed as 6-foot-11 and 205 lbs by 247Sports and comes out of the Deerfield, Illinois. He was previously unrated, but is now a three-star in the 247Composite. Along with Illinois, he also has offers from programs including Boston University, Bucknell, and DePaul among others.
Let’s be clear. By any reasonable evaluation, Lieb is a late bloomer. He is a raw prospect that will need to fill out to play at the Big Ten level. But with that said, it’s not unthinkable to think he could come in for spot minutes when the top two are in foul trouble. He fills out Illinois’ scholarship chart for the time being, joining a 2020 recruiting class ranked 15th nationally.
There will be a lot of uncertainty about next year’s Illini, but fans have to be excited about bringing Lieb into the fold.