A few weeks ago we mourned the loss of 2012 recruit Michael Orris (who it turns out is following Bruce Weber to KState). However, two new guys have confirmed they will be heading to campus to play for John Groce and the Illini next year. Mike LaTulip will join the team as a preferred walk-on, while Sam McLaurin will transfer from Coastal Carolina. The news of both new guys is exciting, though one caused a bit more of a stir with his announcement than the other.

On Monday, John Groce announced that LaTulip would be joining the program. The thing is, LaTulip actually already committed to walking on the team in September of last year, so really Groce was just sort of confirming that LaTulip isn’t jumping ship.

LaTulip attends Prospect High School, and is a member of the Full Package AAU team. The 6-0, 165-pound guard averaged 22.0 points, 4.0 assists and 2.7 rebounds during his senior season, leading Prospect to a record of 17-9 and 7-3 in the Mid-Suburban League’s East Division. He made 75 three-pointers on the year while shooting 38.5 percent from behind the arc.

“We are pleased that Mike will attend the University of Illinois and join our basketball team,” Groce said. “He is a prolific scorer and without question one of the best shooters in the state of Illinois. He turned down many scholarship opportunities to walk-on here, so we feel fortunate to add a player of Mike’s caliber to our program.”

What Illinois needs right now is a scorer, so this is great news that LaTulip isn’t flying the coop. Though one might turn their nose up at a guy that is a “preferred walk-on,” you have to remember that Trent Meacham and Jeff Jordan, who happened to be the son of some guy named Michael, both started out as walk-ons. Both earned a scholarship in their second year and one of them – hint, not the son of Michael – turned out to be a pretty integral part of the team.

LaTulip’s announcement flew under the radar, while everyone is talking about McLaurin, who took to Twitter and said “F*** it, I’m going to Illinois. #Illinination.” He later apologized for his language and tweeted: “Hey everyone sorry about my language last night. I was just extremely excited to be part of #illinination.”

While profanity is never really necessary, I gotta love that he was so excited to be part of the gang that he lost himself for a moment. However, I did hear that his team didn’t even know about the transfer until the tweet, which is a bit more concerning. His actions have also gotten a lot of attention, and I don’t really think it’s bad attention. After no one wanted to coach us for a while, it’s nice that someone is ecstatic to wear the orange and blue.

McLaurin follows the footsteps of Sam Maniscalco and will enroll as a graduate student at Illinois. This means he can compete immediately during the 2012-13 season under the NCAA one-time transfer exception. The 6-8, 230-pound forward started all 31 games for the Chanticleers last season, averaging 10.0 points, 7.5 rebounds and 1.2 blocks while shooting 65.2 percent from the field.

McLaurin scored in double figures in 18 games on the year and recorded five double-doubles, and totaled 674 points and shot nearly 62 percent during his four-year career and owns the Coastal Carolina record for career blocked shots with 155 while ranking seventh on the school’s all-time rebounding list with 647 boards.

A native of Havana, Fla., McLaurin is a two-time Big South All-Academic selection and earned first-team CoSIDA Academic All-District honors in 2012 as well.

Though he will only be on the team one year, McLaurin could be really helpful in filling the hole left by Meyers Leonard. Though the Maniscalco experiment didn’t quite work, perhaps McLaurin will be different. Either way, we’re f****ing excited to have both new guys on the team.

John Groce has nabbed his first Illini recruit! Drake shooting guard, and Champaign native, Rayvonte Rice announced today that he will transfer to Illinois. He had the option to transfer to Xavier as well, but he attended Champaign Centennial High School and decided to return to his roots.

There are actually three open scholarships for next season: Michael Orris bowed out of his scholly before setting foot on campus, Meyers Leonard is heading to the NBA, and Crandall Head transferred abruptly in the middle of the season. Groce filled one spot, and now has two to play with.

Rice, a 6-foot-4, 240-pound guard, will sit out next season, and then will have two years of eligibility with Illinois. He averaged 16.5 points and 5.7 rebounds last season for Drake.

Since Rice has some collegiate experience, he could be able to jump in immediately and take over the guard duties for Brandon Paul and DJ Richardson after they graduate at the end of next year. While he doesn’t necessarily have B1G experience, he will have a year of practice to get with the program. Seems like a good nab, and I live it when the local kids get to come home and play for the fans (ala another Centennial transfer – from Dayton – Trent Meacham).

Groce now has two more spots to fill before the season begins, and will most likely focus on another point guard position and center to fill the more immediate holes left by Leonard and Maniscalco.

New Illini men's basketball head coach John Groce

Though the recruits for 2013 have said they’re on board with joining the basketball team under John Groce’s leadership, the team’s one and only 2012 recruit, Michael Orris, has decided to jump ship and reopen the recruitment process.

According to Shannon Ryan of The Chicago Tribune the 3-star point guard did not think that Groce’s style would fit with the way he plays. Seeing as how Groce is a big fan of guard-heavy play and has been known to play three point guards at a time, it’s sort of a confusing statement.

Now Groce has two spots to fill, as Meyers Leonard has hired an agent and will not be returning this year. Perhaps one of those spots will be filled by DJ Cooper, the star at Ohio who was considering transferring after the news of Groce’s hiring at Illinois. Even so, there is still another opening remaining for Groce, who should be on the lookout for a big guy to fill Leonard’s shoes.

It’s always disappointing when a player decommits, but it is expected to happen when a new coach joins the program. Tracy Abrams was very successful at the point last year, and will most likely continue that role in the future as well. With Mike Shaw and Myke Henry already on the roster, another Michael would’ve been confusing, anyway.

No word of any current players transferring, but there is a lot of time left before the 2012-2013 season begins.

Illinois has nabbed verbal committments from a shooting guard and a point guard this week, which is perfect because we’re drowning in big men right now.

PG Michael Orris from Crete-Monee and SG Malcom Hill from Belleville East both have verbally agreed to suit up in the orange and blue in 2012 and 2013, respectively.

The 6-foot-3 Orris decommitted from Creighton earlier this summer.  Orris explained his reasoning for joining Illinois to the Chicago Tribune:

“It’s been a journey. To get that load off my shoulder is tremendous. I couldn’t be happier with my decision. Illinois is the state school, and in the Big Ten. I get an opportunity to play in front of 15,000 fans, the drive is one and half hours away from my house. It’s an amazing feeling.”

The 6-5, 200-pound Hill is a Junior this year at Belleville East , and is ranked No. 58 in the Class of 2013 by ESPNU.