The Illinois basketball program is recruiting at a level that hasn’t been seen in decades.
It is quite impressive what the Illini are doing right now. After losing most of the team to graduation, the transfer portal, or the NBA, Brad Underwood has made some great hires and added some incredible talent to the roster.
The offseason is nowhere near complete, though. There are still plenty of talented players left for the future, and the class of 2025 has a chance to be one of the best groups to ever come to Champaign.
Illinois already has a top-40 commit with the addition of Jeremiah Fears. He is an incredible point guard who will lead this team in the future. Fears could be getting some help shortly too. The Illini are in the mix for some of the top recruits for the class of 2025.
The state of Illinois does have a few talented players coming out of the class of 2025. The Illini have been eyeing a couple of these players with the top talent being Aleks Alston.
Alston is a 6-foot-9, 205-pound power forward from Kenwood Academy in Illinois. He is rated as a four-star recruit and ranked as the No. 86 player in the class of 2025. He is also the No. 21 power forward in the country and the best player coming out of Illinois.
Illinois was one of the first programs to eye Alston. We offered him a scholarship back in May 2023, and since then, other teams have started to pick up on Alston’s talent.
Alston suited up for the Mac Irvin Fire in the Nike EYBL this offseason. He averaged 9.5 points, 3.3 rebounds, and 1.9 assists per game for a struggling 1-14 Mac Irvin Fire program. Alston was one of their few bright spots in the league.
About three weeks ago, Alston did an interview with Charlie Parent of Zagsblog. He mentioned Illinois, Ohio State, and DePaul in the article. While Illinois seemed to be of interest, DePaul had the most glowing review from Alston.
I think the Illini are still in the hunt for Alston, but it will be interesting to see how this plays out. I think DePaul wins this recruitment, but I also believe it could be due to Illinois putting Alston on the back burner.
