Illinois has been in on Brady Pettigrew for a long time, and now the five-star in-state guard is set to take a closer look in Champaign.
Pettigrew, a member of the class of 2028, first picked up an Illinois offer in April 2025, when he was still a freshman. Since then, Brad Underwood and his staff have kept pressing in his recruitment. He has already been to multiple Illinois games and took another unofficial visit to campus earlier this summer, and on Thursday Sam Kayser reported that Pettigrew had locked in his five official visits.
Illinois is on that list, with Pettigrew scheduled to visit on October 2. The other stops are Michigan on September 12, Florida on September 25, Ohio State on November 6 and Arkansas on January 1.
That Illinois was the first school to offer him stands out, especially since only Florida joined the Illini in extending an offer before this summer.
On the court, Pettigrew looks every bit like the kind of guard who can take over a game. He can score from deep and also knock down shots off the bounce, and in Nike EYBL play he shot 30.2 percent from beyond the arc. In the midrange, he has the ability to create his own shot whenever he wants.
His best trait, though, is what happens when he gets downhill. Pettigrew may be the most vertically explosive player in his class, and he averaged 8.7 free-throw attempts per game in EYBL play. That kind of number says plenty about how often he gets to the rim and how little he seems to mind contact.
With his touch, body control, willingness to absorb contact and athleticism, Pettigrew is difficult to stop once he turns the corner. He is also dangerous in transition. Put it all together, and he looks like an ultra-polished scorer.
There is still room to sharpen things up, mainly his efficiency from three-point range and maybe the shot selection that comes with being the clear go-to option. Defensively, he fits the standard blue-chip mold: if he commits himself, his physical tools give him a chance to become a plus defender.
Arkansas has a compelling pitch of its own. With John Calipari in Fayetteville, the Razorbacks can sell Pettigrew on the chance to develop into an NBA lottery pick, likely sooner rather than later.
Illinois, though, has its own angle. With Keaton Wagler’s rapid rise throughout the 2025-26 season and the program’s growing success, Underwood can tell Pettigrew to come to Champaign, chase a national title and turn himself into a lottery ticket.
Florida and Michigan also bring major selling points that Illinois cannot match: both have recently won national championships, with Florida doing it in 2025 and Michigan this year. Ohio State’s inclusion on the list is, as noted, something of a surprise.
The timing of Pettigrew’s official visits also raises a question about whether a reclassification could be in play. In today’s college basketball landscape, prospects often wait until their senior year to start taking official visits. Pettigrew setting his visits for this fall and early winter could mean he is thinking about moving up to the 2027 class, which would fit neatly with Illinois’ timeline if Quentin Coleman is one-and-done, as early signs suggest.
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