Mar 13, 2021; Indianapolis, Indiana, USA; Illinois Fighting Illini guard Ayo Dosunmu (11) dunks the ball against the Iowa Hawkeyes in the second half at Lucas Oil Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Aaron Doster-USA TODAY Sports
Illinois Basketball is in for a huge weekend. On the other side of Kirby, Illinois Football hosts the Penn State Nittany Lions. Though the football squad has mustered up some groans after two less than ideal performances, the buzz is created to host one of the premiere teams in the country. As a result, Illinois Basketball will try to use the environment to coerce a big time recruit. 4 star combo-guard, Mikey Lewis will visit Champaign for an official. Lewis has shown he is one of the top scoring guards in the country
He is currently in the top 60 for 247sports in the class of 2024. Lewis would be an absolutely monster get to pair alongside Morez Johnson. Illinois has recruited big men well. Dain Dainja, Amani Hansberry and Morez Johnson all look like top of the line big ten players. Lewis would be a welcome addition after Terrence Shannon Jr, Justin Harmon and Marcus Domask move on.
The Competition
Lewis seems to be focusing on three schools. Illinois, LSU and Ole Miss. Chester Frazier has led the charge for the combo guard, and have Illinois in well. Per our sources, LSU seemed to lead for Mikey Lewis. However, things have become foggy. Cody Toppert was the lead recruiter on LSU’s staff for Lewis. Most recently, Toppert left to become the coach of the G-League affiliate for the Washington Wizards, which leaves question about the Tigers’ position for Mikey Lewis.
Ole Miss is another school that has hopped in. Chris Beard is a respected basketball coach, despite the off the court issues, and is respected as a winning coach when it comes to guards.
The Bottom line
This is a high-major battle. Ultimately, each school has solid sells for Lewis and this should be close. The fact that Lewis is from the west coast, and the Big Ten recently added UCLA and USC to its conference, may be of appeal to the Lewis camp.
Regardless, Illinois will have to knock this visit out of the park to get an absolutely necessary piece to their puzzle.
Alex is the Owner of Armchairillini.com, your go-to source for in depth coverage of the Illinois Fighting Illini. Alex is also the head of content creation and editing on Armchair Illini. His expertise has landed articles featured in top media publications like Bleacher Report, YardBarker, Verbal Commits, CBS Sports and more.
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