CHAMPAIGN — Chicago will always be a priority for Illinois recruiting. The city and suburbs regularly produce top basketball talent. Directing that talent south to Champaign, though, has proved difficult lately.
Cliff Alexander's hat trick in November 2013 saw the former Chicago Curie star spurn Illinois for Kansas. Jalen Brunson had the Illini in his top two, but chose Villanova instead in September 2014 while sitting inside Stevenson High School and won a pair of national titles with the Wildcats. Other programs swooped in to grab the likes of Chicago Simeon product Zach Norvell (Gonzaga), Chicago Morgan Park product Charlie Moore (Memphis, then California, then Kansas), Stevenson graduate Justin Smith (Indiana) and Chicago Simeon's Talen Horton-Tucker (Iowa State).