Illinois Women’s Basketball Lands Top 40 Player

Illinois Women’s Basketball Lands Top 40 Player!

Shauna Green has been on fire recently. Earlier in the week, Illinois Women’s Basketball landed Hayven Smith, a top in-state post player, to the class of 2024. On Friday afternoon, Ohio Wing, Berry Wallace announced on social media that she will also commit to Illinois. The Lady Illini now have two strong commitments in the class of 2024 and seem to be well on their way to building a foundation for sustained success.

Additionally, Illinois Women’s Basketball have landed two notable high major transfers. Camille Hobby and Shay Boylin both decided to transfer from ACC programs (N.C State and Duke respectively).  Green and her staff were also able to retain the talented crop of players including Genesis Bryant, Kendall Bostic, Adalia McKenzie and Jada Peebles.

Wallace is a huge commit.

Berry Wallace is a 6 foot 1 wing player out of Pickerington, Ohio. She averaged around 14 points per game last year and was named to the Ohio First Team. She is ranked as the number 37 prospect in the ESPN Hoop gurlz rankings. Per her Twitter page, she also holds offers from Michigan, Harvard, Ohio State and Depaul.

Shauna Green has set a strong foundation in mixing in prep recruits with strong adds to the transfer portal. Her 2023 includes two guards. Gretchen Dolan and Cori Allen round out the exciting class of 2023 that will be able to learn from a talented core of players including aforementioned Bryant, Bostic, McKenzie and Peebles.

Capitalizing on Momentum.

In her first full off-season as an Illini head coach, Green has already hit the ground running. After a successful year, the sell for Illinois Women’s Basketball is completely different. Much like Bret Bielema and Brad Underwood were able to do, Green Green has had to recruit high school players who have never seen the success of the Illini program. She can now sell the benefits of hopping onto an up-and-coming program. This sell seems to be resonating throughout the state.  Hayven Smith fills a huge need in the post and has the potential to be an anchor in the continued success of this program.

With the brand new Ubben facility up and running, Green has the opportunity to join Bret Bielema and Brad Underwood as major revenue coaches who are having sustained success. Not to mention, the crop of Illinois “other-sports” like Golf, Tennis and more that are having immense success.