The high-major college basketball programs and other mid-majors around the Chicago area are closing out their Class of 2017 recruiting classes. Here is where those programs stand with their respective recruiting classes.
• DePaul
Committed:Jaylen Butz, 6-9, Fort Wayne, Ind, (North Side); Justin Roberts, 5-11, Las Vegas (Findlay Prep)
The buzz:The Blue Demons landed a good one in Roberts, who is originally from Indianapolis but will play this season for prep school giant Findlay Prep, one of the country’s most powerful prep schools. Roberts should be able to step right in on day one at the point guard position.
What’s left:A couple of high priorities include Evanston’s Nojel Eastern and 6-10 Makhtar Gueye from Aspire Academy in Arizona.
• Illinois
Committed:Jeremiah Tilmon, 6-10, East St. Louis; Da’Monte Williams, 6-3, Peoria (Manual); Javon Pickett, 6-4, Belleville (East); Trent Frazier, 6-2, West Palm Beach, Fla. (Wellington)
The buzz:The headliner of this highly-regarded class is Tilmon, the state’s top prospect and one of the top 25 prospects in the country. But adding Frazier, a top 100 nationally ranked point guard, was huge.
What’s left:Illinois would love to add one more to this class –– and possibly two if it’s the right pair. The big prize is 6-7 Kris Wilkes, the five-star out of Indianapolis, who is down to Illinois, Indiana and UCLA. But 6-9 Mayan Kiir from Victory Rock Prep in Florida is a high priority as well.
• Northwestern
Committed:Anthony Gaines, 6-4, New Hampton, NH (New Hampton Prep)
The buzz:Northwestern’s class will be a small one, but most importantly it was able to land a player the Wildcats truly coveted in Gaines, a guard with size, length and athleticism. Gaines had close to 20 offers, including Dayton and Butler.
What’s left to do:The Wildcats would love to add one more player to this class and are heavily involved with Zach Kent, a 6-10 post out of Middletown, Del., who has received a ton of offers and interest. Seton Hall, Tennessee, St. Bonaventure all offered this fall.
• Loyola
Committed:Cameron Krutwig, 6-9, Algonquin (Jacobs)
The buzz:Landing Krutwig, one of the top 10 prospects in the senior class in Illinois, was huge for the Ramblers. He’s a true big man with size, skill and who competes and produces at a high level.
What’s left to do:The Ramblers are in the mix with Larkin’s Christian Negron, who just recently had a setback with an ACL tear. But there is a lot of buzz that Negron to Loyola could happen very soon. Coach Porter Moser and his staff would like nothing more than for this 6-6 athletic forward to join Krutwig in this class.
• UIC
Committed:Greg Eboigbodin, 6-9, Detroit (Jesuit)
The buzz:After putting together its best recruiting class in years last year, UIC has added an intriguing player with legit size and a big upside in Eboigbodin, who had a surplus of mid-major offers.
What’s left to do:What a jolt the program would receive if it found a way to land Curie’s Elijah Joiner, a 6-2 guard who garnered high-major offers. Joiner just recently completed an official visit to UIC this past weekend.
