Illinois basketball missed out on a 4-star recruit because of AAU drama

Illinois basketball’s long and tortured history on the recruiting trail has been well documented. Brad Underwood was supposed to change all that, and to an extent, he already has. The new Illini coach beat out Michigan State for Mark Smith, a late-rising four-star guard in the class of 2017, in April. Underwood got off to a great start with his 2018 recruiting class last week by getting a commitment from Ayo Dosunmu, the program’s first five-star recruit in ... a long time.

Of course, this is Illinois, so those feel-good vibes can only last for so long. That brings us to the strange recruitment of Talen Horton-Tucker, a four-star forward out of Chicago who committed to Iowa State on Thursday.

Horton-Tucker took an official visit to Illinois this past weekend. He enjoyed his time in Champaign so much that he was ready to commit to the Illini, according to Michael O’Brien of the Chicago Sun-Times. Only one problem: Illinois pulled the offer. That seems like an awfully strange thing to do for the state’s No. 2 player.

Why did it happen? It all comes back to summer basketball drama. From the Sun-Times (edited from brevity):

Horton-Tucker and Morgan Park guard Ayo Dosunmu, the state’s No. 1 prospect, began the spring playing club basketball together with the Mac Irvin Fire. Horton-Tucker then left the Mac Irvin Fire to play for a different organization, Team Rose.

The move did not sit well with the Mac Irvin Fire, which made its feelings known on Twitter. But Illinois kept recruiting both players.

The Dosunmu camp apparently never reached a point where they felt like they were comfortable playing with Horton-Tucker again, so the Illinois staff was forced to choose. They stuck with Dosunmu.

This is obviously a bummer for Illinois and for Horton-Tucker. It feels like something that could only happen to Illinois. But both of the following things can also be true:

First thing’s first: this is a nice pickup for the Cyclones. Horton-Tucker is rated as the No. 54 player in the country by Rivals as a versatile 6’5 forward who is low on athleticism but high on skill.

Remember that awesome Fab Five photoshoot the Iowa State recruits posed for a couple weeks back? Now all of those players are actually committed:

It’s a promising four-man class for Iowa State that now features three Chicago area players with Horton-Tucker, big man George Conditt, and wing Zion Griffin. Iowa State hasn’t missed a beat under Steve Prohm since he took over for Fred Hoiberg.

There’s no doubt that Iowa State has grown into a more successful program than Illinois. The Cyclones have made the NCAA tournament six straight seasons while posting 23 or more wins every year during that stretch. Over the same time period, Illinois has reached the NCAA tournament just once.

The Cyclones are a contender for an NCAA tournament bid every year. Illinois is trying to get back to that same place. It’s unfortunate if Horton-Tucker really did have his heart set on committing to the Illini, but the truth is he ended up at a program that’s currently in a better place.

Illinois was put in a really bad spot here. It was a no-win situation from the start, and the only way it could have been avoided was by deciding to stop recruiting Horton-Tucker earlier. That’s probably what Underwood and his staff should have done.

Still, Underwood has the program trending up. Smith might end up being the team’s best player as a freshman. Dosunmu is going to add another jolt next year. Illinois could have one of the most talented backcourts in the Big Ten for the foreseeable future if both players stay in school.

Now that this story is out there, the hope is it doesn’t put unnecessary pressure on Dosunmu. Remember: these are high school kids.

But if nothing else, having this story come out has to be a major drain on both players. College basketball recruiting is never not weird.