The Illinois basketball program has been a part of some big-time recruitments since COVID.
That was the mark of when the Illini made the official turn toward relevance. Since 2020, we have been winning at the highest rate in program history, and Brad Underwood has been landing some of the top players in the country.
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Illinois has had four first-round NBA Draft picks in the past three years, and that number is sure to grow. If the Illini can land Brady Pettigrew in 2028, it is almost guaranteed to be another first-round selection.
On Thursday, Sam Kayser of League Ready reported that Pettigrew has started to schedule official visit dates. He will visit Michigan on September 12, Florida on September 25, Illinois on October 2, Ohio State on November 6, and Arkansas on January 1.
This is a massive recruitment for any of the programs mentioned above. Pettigrew is a 6-foot-3, 185-pound combo guard from Bolingbrook High School in Illinois. He is rated as a five-star recruit and ranked as the No. 14 player in the class of 2028. He is also the No. 1 combo guard in the country and the best player coming out of Illinois.
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It is exciting to see Illinois a part of the official visit list. Back in the day, you could only take five official visits, so the Illini would be right in the mix for Pettigrew with this list.
That isn’t the case anymore. The official visit news, and some other news that recently came out, reveals the worst-kept secret about Pettigrew’s recruitment.
All the big players are involved.
I don’t want to pooh-pooh the official visit list, but at this point in the recruiting game, all an official visit means is that the team is still involved. That is it.
Illinois getting an official visit is still awesome. That means we are in the mix. But on top of the five official visits that have been scheduled, League Ready also reported that North Carolina, Duke, Kansas, UConn, and a few others could also get official visits.
So, at the end of the day, Pettigrew is likely to take official visits to all of the big players. That isn’t a shocking thing in the least bit. It is what most people figured might happen.
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Landing Brady Pettigrew would be a big deal for Illinois basketball in-state recruiting
The emphasis on in-state recruiting when it comes to basketball was so much greater in the 2010s than it has been in the 2020s. Underwood has a much greater reach than previous coaching regimes.
With that being said, the state of Illinois recruiting has been kind of weak in recent years. Illinois landed Lincoln Williams, who was the No. 2 player in the state in 2026, but he was a sub-150 recruit nationally.
2025 had a couple of legacy recruits in the mix, but Illinois didn’t give them a lot of love, as we were fishing for bigger fish.
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The last time the state of Illinois had a top-100 recruit was Morez Johnson Jr, who was No. 31 in the country. Illinois landed him.
Since the 2020 class, the state of Illinois has only had six top-50 recruits. Illinois has pulled in two of the six, with Johnson Jr. and Adam Miller both committing to the Orange and Blue. Both players left after their freshman season, too.
Pettigrew is the highest-rated recruit to come out of the Land of Lincoln since 2020. He is a can’t-miss for the Illini, and pulling him in would show the recruiting power of Underwood and the Illinois basketball program.
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This article was originally published on www.writingillini.com as Illinois basketball a part of Brady Pettigrew’s worst kept official visit secret.
