More bad news for the Illini

[Da Coach]

First year Illinois head coach Brad Underwood is not having much luck his first season. His team finished 4-14 in the Big Ten, one game out of last place, and they were quickly eliminated from the Big Ten Tournament in the initial round by a bad Iowa team. He has had many recruiting losses, and was still trying to land a big man for his woefully weak inside game.
Then one of his heralded freshmen, 2017 Illinois Mr. Basketball Mark Smith left school and plans to transfer. And now Illinois' chances next year just took another huge blow.
A few days ago, ;eading scorer and rebounder, junior Leron Black announced today that he was foregoing his final season of eligibility, leaving school, and he plans to sign with an agent and play pro. Black also lead the team in field goal percentage and three point percentage.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/college/ct-spt-illinois-leron-black-leaving-20180315-story.html

I wouldn't look for Illinois to be ready to turn the corner next year yet. There are rumors there may even still be another player leaving. I'd expect to see Underwood now try to sign a grad-transfer or a juco big man to fill the inside void.

[tornado]

The Illini have missed on a ton of recruiting targets...

but this evening at 7pm, another of their top targets will announce...

Antwan January is a talented 7-footer who is a Hillcrest Prep teammate of Stephan Gabriel...
He has a number of offers but is believed to be picking from a final list of:
Illinois, DePaul, New Mexico, Washington State, TCU and Nevada...and wants a place where he can have an immediate impact.
Several recruiting "gurus" have predicted Illinois because of the talented guards and complete black hole in the low post that would give January a huge chance to step in and play a bunch as a freshman.

https://www.verbalcommits.com/players/antwan-january

[Da Coach]

Hillcrest Prep's 6'11", 240 pound center Antwan January commits to Illinois and finally ends Brad Underwood's futility in trying to land a quality big man.

https://basketballrecruiting.rivals.com/news/illinois-lands-four-star-center-antwan-january

[tornado]

Antwan January is a talented 7-footer who is a Hillcrest Prep teammate of Stephan Gabriel.......


....commits to Illinois and finally ends Brad Underwood's futility in trying to land a quality big man.
https://basketballrecruiting.rivals....antwan-january

possibly Antwan January is not going to qualify or maybe just changed his mind -- but last night
he decommitted from Illinois and reopened his recruitment...
https://twitter.com/lovebabe2677/sta...39717537697794

[egib52]

possibly Antwan January is not going to qualify or maybe just changed his mind -- but last night
he decommitted from Illinois and reopened his recruitment...
https://twitter.com/lovebabe2677/sta...39717537697794

Based on all of the school switching, and lack of any reports of him playing high school basketball this season, I am guessing it is a grades thing.

[BUSongwriter]

I would think the decision might be explained in two words: Kofi Cockburn.

[Da Coach]

possibly Antwan January is not going to qualify or maybe just changed his mind -- but last night
he decommitted from Illinois and reopened his recruitment...
https://twitter.com/lovebabe2677/sta...39717537697794

7-footer Antwan January just decommitted from Illinois Sunday night, and tonight he commits to New Mexico.

[Stryker]

Apparently this has been expected from the Illini for quite some time. There were academic reasons and lots of questions about him being able to qualify at Illinois. Seems like maybe he wasn’t going to, plus Illinois landed Cockburn.