Good morning, Illini Nation: Class of 2025 team rankings | Contents

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Welcome to “Good Morning, Illini Nation,” your daily dose of college basketball news from Illini beat writer and AP Top 25 pick Scott Richey. He will provide insights each morning on Brad Underwood’s team and college basketball in general:

Brandon Lee’s commitment on Wednesday — a week after Keaton Wagler’s — made Illinois one of only three Big Ten teams with multiple recruits on board in the Class of 2025. How that two-man class stacks up among its Big Ten brethren , is what apparently is up for debate.

In the 247Sports rankings, Illinois’ class ranks fourth behind Wisconsin (three commits, even though New Zealand guard Hayden Jones is missing), Penn State (also two) and Indiana (just four-star forward Trent Sisley). In the On3 rankings, the Illini’s class also ranks fourth, behind Indiana, Ohio State (four-star guard Dorian Jones) and Maryland (four-star big man Marcus Jackson).

But Rivals has Illinois’ class ranked first in the Big Ten. For this moment. Even though it rates Lee alone more than the other services at number 89 nationally. Wagler’s top ranking comes from 247Sports at No. 150.

So yeah, maybe recruiting rankings can be a bit of a nonsense. Brad Underwood would certainly agree (and did). And these successive commitments clearly present a situation in which Underwood and Co. rely on their evaluations. Because Wagler’s only other high bid was Minnesota (at the same time the Illini came on board), and Lee’s only other high bid was Seton Hall. That came last week.

The way Underwood has turned Illinois into a contender again — both in the Big Ten and nationally — likely means he can be confident in his evaluations. And it’s easy to see how both Lee and Wagler showed up on Illinois’ radar. Lee filled the EYBL circuit as a goalscorer (albeit not overly efficient) and has international experience. Wagler controls both positional size and shooting lanes.

The impact they could make in Illinois? To be determined.