Illinois Women’s Basketball in the Running for Aaliyah Guyton

Illinois Women’s Basketball continues its high-level recruiting.

Illinois Women’s Basketball head coach Shauna Green has been a revelation for the Lady Illini basketball program. Its 15-game turnaround and appearance in the 2022 NCAA tournament was the talk of college basketball. Not only has the program been a revelation on the court, Green and her staff have done an outstanding job on the recruiting trail. They’ve brought in high-level transfers and snagged some of the better recruits the program have had in some time.

Green’s ability to balance the portal with existing players and high school recruiting has been tremendous. She and her staff brought in valuable players like Genesis Bryant and Makira Cook, who greatly contributed to the team. Cook was voted newcomer of the year by the DIA. Green signed Cori Allen, a top-80 recruit who should be valuable to what they are building in Champaign.

Green and her staff are at it again.

Shauna Green and the Lady Illini staff are in the running for Peoria High School star point guard Aaliyah Guyton. If the last name looks familiar, she’s the daughter of former Indiana Hoosier star guard A.J. Guyton. She doesn’t have to trade on her dad’s name. She might be better than dear old Dad when it’s all said and done. Guyton has narrowed her choices to five, with Illinois making the cut.

Its been a fun ride and I am thankful for all the coaches who have recruited me throughout this process!

top 5️⃣. pic.twitter.com/smnVdguFDi

— Aaliyah Guyton (@aguyton11) June 20, 2023

Miss Guyton is not short on accolades either. She was the 2023 Journal Star Girl’s Basketball Player of the Year and All-State, averaging 21.6 points, 4.6 rebounds, and 3.8 assists per game. In addition, she was Big 12 Conference Player of the Year for the second year in a row. Hence she’d be a massive addition to the Lady Illini program. However, the Illini have competition  Iowa, Pittsburgh, Nebraska, and Michigan State are also in the running for Guyton.