Illinois Fighting Illini lands two massive recruits in November

Illinois Fighting Illini basketball has landed two massive recruits in November. That gives them head coach Brad Underwood’s best recruiting class to date.

It’s been a rough time to be an Illinois Fighting Illini fan. While the football team hasn’t made it to a bowl since the 2014 season, the basketball team is deep in a March Madness drought of six seasons.

Though the football team officially became bowl eligible after their historic comeback win against the Michigan State Spartans, Illinois basketball isn’t quite guaranteed a trip to a postseason matchup.

Luckily for Illini fans, the basketball team is trending in the right direction. The excitement of potentially reaching March Madness is a refreshing change for fans, and that excitement has only been amplified over the past couple of weeks.

At the beginning of November, head coach Brad Underwood and company landed four-star point guard Andre Curbelo out of Long Island Luther High School in Brooklyn, NY. Just three weeks later, the Illini made an even bigger splash in landing fellow four-star guard Adam Miller of Morgan Park Academy in Chicago.

Miller comes in at No. 28 in the ESPN Top 100, while Curbelo lands at No. 55.

Miller’s commitment is big for two reasons.

Firstly, he’s a tremendous talent in the backcourt to complement Curbelo.

Perhaps even more importantly, the Illini landing a top-30 recruit from Illinois and the Chicagoland area is a huge step in the right direction.

Year after year, the top recruits out of Chicago pass up on the Illini to head off to schools like Kansas and Duke.

Making the University of Illinois a preferred destination of Chicagoland recruits would bring a significant boost to the program and would help them compete with perennial contenders.

Whether or not Miller actually signs with Illinois remains to be seen. As of now, the final scholarship for the 2020-21 season was awarded to Curbelo. However, there may be one scholarship opening up if fellow Morgan Park Academy standout Ayo Dosunmu heads off to the NBA Draft.

Either way, the Ilini are in great shape for next year with Underwood’s best recruiting class to date.