Yesterday was signing day in the college basketball world, and Illinois basketball coach John Groce was able to get five new guys to sign on the dotted line. Welcome to the Illini Austin Colbert, Malcolm Hill, Maverick Morgan, Kendrick Nunn and Jaylon Tate.

Even though many of these guys gave verbal commits a long time ago (Malcolm Hill committed to Bruce Weber and kept his word moving forward with Groce), it’s still really exciting when the big day arrives and we know for SURE that they’ll be suiting up in orange and blue.

Rivals lists the class as the No. 10 in the nation, but the other sites weren’t quite as generous: Scout ranks the class No. 22 and ESPN lists it as 23. Regardless of which list you’re looking at, Groce should feel pretty great about a top 25 class across the board.

“One of the top goals we had in this first year here was to sign a five-player class that fits our needs at every position, and I couldn’t be more pleased with our results,” said Groce. “These are five outstanding young men who have tremendous character, come from great families, and of course excel on the basketball floor.”

The Scoop on the Recruits

Colbert, who just gave a verbal commit earlier this week, is a 6-9, athletic forward from Gladstone, N.J. He attends Gill St. Bernard’s High School, the No. 25-ranked team in the country according to a Preseason poll by MaxPreps.

Hill, the sole recruit that stuck around after Weber left, is a 6-5 wing from Belleville, Ill. Another top-100 recruit, he was a first-team Associated Press all-state selection last season. Hill averaged 21.3 points as a junior at Belleville East High School, setting the school’s single-season scoring record with 666 points.

Morgan was the first big get for Groce back in June. The 6-10 center is from Springboro, Ohio (remember, Groce came from Ohio…). The three-star recruit averaged 21.3 points, 9.6 rebounds and 3.5 blocked shots as a junior at Springboro High School, earning special mention All-Ohio accolades.

Nunn is a 6-3 guard from Chicago who has been a part of three straight state championship teams at Simeon High School. He is listed many places as the No. 2 player in the state of Illinois, and earned All-State honors after averaging 15.1 points as a junior. Nunn also was a member of USA Basketball team that won gold at the FIBA U17 World Championships in Lithuania in July. Nunn is on the same team as highly-touted recruit Jabari Parker, who didn’t sign anywhere yesterday.

Tate is a 6-2 point guard from Chicago who teamed with Nunn to help lead Simeon to the IHSA state title last season. The three-star recruit committed to Illinois just in early October. Since we’re in desperate need of a PG to back up Tracy Abrams, I hope Tate is up for the challenge!

The Illini basketball team is currently in Hawaii, gearing up for the Maui Invitational, which begins tomorrow night against Hawaii.

Illini coach John Groce is racking up the Chicago recruits.

Phew. We needed a point guard like nobody’s business, and new coach John Groce was able to deliver. PG Jaylon Tate from Simeon has given an oral commitment to join the Illini in the 2013 season.

Tate joins Kendrick Nunn and Malcom Hill out of Chicago and Maverick Morgan from Ohio.

Last week, PG Demetrius Jackson of Mishawaka, Indiana, held a press conference to announce to the world that he will be going to Notre Dame and not Illinois.

Thanks for the alert, buddy. Why does it seem like people only hold press conferences and make announcements when they don’t come to Illinois? Oh well, at least he didn’t pick Indiana.

Anyway, forget that guy because we are happy to welcome Chicago native and Simeon product Tate to the Orange and Blue roster. Tate may not be ranked as high, but a recent article reminded me of all the highly touted recruits that were recently a bust…

It’s also nice to keep that communication between a school like Simeon and Groce wide open. With Nunn also coming from Simeon, perhaps they can convince their good buddy Jabari Parker to follow suit (a gal can dream). Either way, the two have played together already and should have some chemistry in place when they get to college.

Right now, Tracy Abrams is the only point guard on the team. He was great last year as a freshman, so I can only imagine he’ll get even better this year. But, clearly we need more than one PG, and Brandon Paul doesn’t count as a backup (sorry BP). Also, Groce is a big fan of playing lots of PGs, so we certainly need more than one.

There is still one more open spot left to fill for the 2013 season. The Illini have their eyes on Xavier Rathan-Mayes, though word is he is leaning more toward Florida State.

Brandon Paul with an in-tact jaw; photo by Cary Frye

Not a whole lot is really happening in the world of Illini basketball, seeing as how it’s the summer. After the whirlwind we experience during the coaching frenzy, I’m not complaining. However, a few tidbits have flown onto my radar that I’m happy to share.

BP3

First of all, Brandon Paul suffered a broken jaw last week in practice. He collided with Devin Langford as they went for a loose ball during practice. Nice to see them getting their full-force hustle on during the off-season, but a broken jaw is never good. He was supposed to go in for surgery Friday, and will be out of practice for at least two weeks. When he does return, he will have to avoid contact for a while longer.

Broken bones of any kind suck (my foot was broken four months ago and I’m still not at 100%), but thankfully this happened in June and not November. And, breaking a jaw must suck, but at least he should have no problem making a full recovery. For Derron Williams, the broken jaw led to serious weight loss and a complete turnaround in his junior season. However, Paul doesn’t need to lose any weight and it’s probably not going to help him turn the ball over any less.

Best of luck on a speedy recovery!

Jersey Numbers Set

The new Illini members have picked their jersey numbers, and they look a little something like this:

Sam McLaurin – 0
Rayvonte Rice – 24
Mike LaTulip – 10
(Kevin Berardini will change his # to 31)

It always takes a real man to wear 0 on his jersey, so McLaurin has to be hardcore. Twenty-four has inexplicably always been my favorite number, which I told Mike Davis once when I had the honor of meeting him. He was a freshman and I asked him to please do that number justice. I’m pretty pleased with his four-year response. This also means that I am expecting a lot from Rice, and it makes him instantly my favorite of the new players. LaTulip is 10, and I’m having a hard time finding someone else who had that number. Feel free to inform me in the comments.

Record Hired as Strength Coach

Lon Record has been hired as strength and conditioning coach and will be in charge of the Fighting Illini men’s and women’s basketball teams. Record has 13 years of experience in the profession and comes to Champaign after serving the last five seasons as strength and conditioning coach at Villanova, where he worked with both the men’s and women’s basketball squads.

Since we have a history of skinny guys that can’t put on weight (Mike Tisdale, Mike Davis) or bigger guys that can’t shave off the weight (Demetri McCamey), hiring a new strength coach seems like a fine idea to me.

Parham to Fill Coaching Hole

This one is hot off the presses. Paris Parham (name is almost as good as Maverick Morgan) from ISU will be joining the basketball staff as an assistant coach. Parham will replace the hole left by Isaac Chew’s abrupt exit one month on the job. Before ISU Parham was a Chicago Public League coach, which could be a huge boost for the Illini.

Welcome to the family, Parham!

Malcolm Hill is no longer the sole Illini recruit for 2013, as Maverick Morgan announced to the world via Twitter (natch) that he has committed to joining the Fighting Illini in 2013.

Illini fans have been nervous about John Groce’s recruiting prowess, as recruits such as Michael Orris (2012) and Jalen James (2013) have been heading for the hills. Morgan is the first major player to commit to Groce out of high school, as Mike LaTulip will have walk on status and Rayvonte Rice and Sam McLaurin are transfers. This is also Groce’s first commit for 2013, and he has room for two more guys.

The 6-foot-10, 240-pound center is from Springboro, Ohio, and is ranked in the top 15 at his position for 2013. And, that’s pretty much all I know about him as of right now, aside from the fact that he has an awesome name. His final list was said to include Wisconsin, Vanderbilt, Dayton, Xavier and Minnesota, but it was the staff at Illinois that sealed the deal for him.

Though the Illini need a center to fill the big shoes of Meyers Leonard, here’s hoping by the time Morgan arrives Ibby Djimde or Nnanna Egwu will be dominating in that position and can teach him a thing or two.

Next on the list, let’s get some point guards!