It has been a while since the Illinois basketball team won a recruiting battle of mass proportions.
But, today the recruitment of Jeremiah Tilmon ended and the Illini came out on top.
The recruitment of Tilmon has been a long and winding road. Many big-time programs were after his services until he finally cut his list down to five teams back in June.
After taking visits to the programs he wanted to see, Tilmon decided to pledge his services to Illinois on July 11.
Tilmon took one more unofficial visit to Champaign on September 9 and everything seemed to be going fine. His word seemed as strong as oak.
But, doubt crept into the minds of Illinois basketball fans as he didn’t sign with the rest of class of 2017 that the Illini had committed.
This made fans nervous, along with people spreading rumors that there were other teams now involved in his commitment.
Today, Tilmon ended all of the speculation when he put pen to paper and become the future center for the Illinois basketball team.
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Tilmon is a 6-foot-10, 235-pound, center who is the No. 19 player in the class of 2017. This was arguably the biggest commitment the Illini have had in the history of the program.
The addition of Tilmon is huge for Illinois because heading into 2017 the only center that they would have is Michael Finke and he is more of a power forward.
Illinois has four players for the class of 2017 that will be the building blocks to possibly a National Championship contending team in a year or two.
Trent Frazier is going to help solidify the point guard position after Tracy Abrams leaves following this season.
Da’Monte Williams and Javon Pickett will be deadly shooters and can play multiple roles on the court.
And finally, Tilmon will be the workhorse in the middle and a defensive rim protector. He completes the championship contending puzzle.
John Groce finally closed the deal on a top 25 prospect and the future is bright for the Illinois basketball team.
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