Illinois kept its focus on the 2027 class on Saturday night, and the latest offer went to an unranked name that is starting to draw more attention: wing Jayon Connor.
For Brad Underwood and the Illini, the move stood out because Connor had not previously landed a high-major offer. Since then, a few more power-conference programs have jumped in as well, but Illinois was first to make the call.
Connor, who is from Lewisville, North Carolina, attends Forsyth County Day School and plays AAU basketball with Team CP3 on the EYBL Circuit. He is still unranked by all of the major recruiting services.
What makes Connor interesting is the package he already brings. At 6-foot-7 with a strong frame and solid athleticism, he’s built to play downhill.
He thrives in transition, attacks the rim hard and uses his straight-line speed to get where he wants to go. He doesn’t rely on a bag full of tricks; he gets by defenders with size, burst and force.
That approach shows up in the open floor and in the halfcourt. Connor can operate inside or outside the arc, whether that means working as a back-to-the-basket option, finishing around the basket or attacking from the perimeter. He’s still developing as a long-range shooter, but that part of his game has taken steps forward lately, and that likely mattered to Illinois.
If that jumper keeps climbing, Connor’s ceiling gets a lot more interesting. He already has the tools to be a strong rebounder and, with his physical profile, could grow into a defender who can handle multiple positions from 1 through 4. Even now, his impact comes most naturally near the rim, where he can finish, rebound and bring energy without needing the offense to be built around him.
In a recent Team CP3 game, Connor showed that two-way value in a 62-48 win over the Nightrydas, finishing with 15 points and 10 rebounds.
For Illinois, the appeal is pretty clear: Connor doesn’t look like a prospect who needs everything to go right to help a team. He already gives effort, size and production around the basket. And if the shot comes along, the Illini may have found a player with real rotational upside.
In Other News...
Illinois Just Landed A Big Recruiting Moment With Elite In-State Guard
Illinois has been circling Brady Pettigrew for a while, and the next step in that pursuit is another unofficial visit to campus. The composite five-star guard from Illinois remains one of the most sought-after names in the Class of 2028, with 247Sports listing him as the No. 18 overall prospect and the top player in the state. He already has more than 25 Division-I offers, a group that includes Ohio State, Auburn, Villanova and Florida State, which tells you how wide the competition has become for one of the countrys best young guards.
For Illinois, though, the important part is familiarity. Pettigrew has been on campus multiple times already, and that kind of repeated contact matters when a program is trying to stay in front of an elite in-state target before the chase gets even more crowded. The Illini have done enough to stay firmly in the mix, but with so many major programs involved, every visit becomes another chance to strengthen the relationship and keep the edge in a recruitment that figures to draw plenty more attention. [Read more 🡒]
Illinois 2027 Recruiting Board Is Raising A Familiar Underwood Debate
Illinois has already started to map out its next few recruiting cycles, and the early look at 2027 and 2028 only sharpens a familiar Brad Underwood question: how much positional flexibility does this roster really need, and where can Illinois afford to be choosy? The staff has a late addition already in place for the 2026-27 roster, but the bigger picture is coming into focus through scholarship offers and early commitments, including two in-state wings in the 2027 class.
Isaiah Santos fits the kind of debate Illinois keeps circling back to. The 6-foot-5, 210-pound forward brings the sort of physical profile that can help on the glass and on defense, but his place in the lineup is still part of the larger roster puzzle the Illini are trying to solve. With more targets still on the board and the board itself expanding, Illinois is again weighing whether to keep stacking wings, chase more size, or lean into the type of versatile pieces that have long defined Underwoods best teams. [Read more 🡒]
Illinois Needs David Mirkovic To Make One More Leap
David Mirkovic didnt arrive in Champaign as a mystery, and he didnt play like one as a freshman either. The forward gave Illinois a sturdy inside presence, real rebounding juice and enough touch to make his offensive game more than just a complement, finishing with a season that earned him All-Big Ten honorable mention and a spot on the Big Ten All-Freshman Team.
Now comes the harder part for Illinois, because the next step is less about establishing a role than expanding it. Mirkovics value already showed up in the spaces he occupied and the shots he was willing to take, especially when paired with Keaton Wagler, and the Illini know that if his outside shooting holds and his pick-and-pop game keeps stretching defenses, it changes the way the whole offense can function. [Read more 🡒]