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Welcome to “Good Morning, Illini Nation,” your daily dose of college basketball news from Illini beat writer and AP Top 25 voter Scott Richey. He’ll offer up insights every morning on Brad Underwood’s team:
Illinois got a jumpstart on a busy week of recruiting Wednesday night with an offer to Class of 2024 forward Jackson McAndrew. The rest of the week included/includes reaching out to Class of 2025 prospects for the first time directly starting Thursday and an evaluation period that starts today and runs through Sunday.
Extremely blessed to have received an offer from the University of Illinois! Thanks @CoachUnderwood @CoachFrazierILL and staff! #AGTG @PulleyHoops @Team1Tyus @WayzataBHoops pic.twitter.com/5NP3HJ6cYB
— Jackson McAndrew (@JacksonMcAndrew) June 15, 2023
But first, the offer to McAndrew. The 6-foot-8, 190-pound forward out Plymouth, Minn., and Wayzata High School saw his recruitment begin in earnest last summer with offers from Northern Iowa, St. Thomas and a first high major offer from Nebraska. Then Creighton, Wisconsin and Iowa got involved last fall.
Illinois, with assistant coach Chester Frazier leading the way, is the first new offer this summer, but Notre Dame and Virginia Tech did offer in the spring. McAndrew is ranked as a four-star recruit by 247Sports, On3 and ESPN and as a three-star recruit by Rivals. On3 has him as the No. 48 prospect nationally in the 2024 class.
McAndrew checks a major recruiting box for Illinois. He’s been a part of a winning team. Wayzata went 27-4 this past season and beat Park Center (Dain Dainja’s alma mater) 75-71 in overtime to win the MSHSL Class AAAA state championship.
McAndrew had eight of the Trojans’ nine points in overtime to seal the victory and finished with a game-high 25 points. He finished the season averaging 17 points and eight rebounds.
McAndrew played for Howard Pulley, which is a Nike EYBL team that dropped down this spring to the Elite Youth Champions League. The EYCL has four EYBL teams and 12 at-large independent programs that competed for a spot in Peach Jam. Howard Pulley finished fourth at 10-5, and McAndrew averaged 16.3 points, 4.9 rebounds and 1.5 assists with a 51/45/81 shooting slash.