While Illinois missed out on one of their primary targets in the Class of 2015 earlier this month as Jalen Brunson committed to Villanova, there were other prospects on the table for head coach John Groce and his staff. One of those players was four-star shooting guard Jalen Coleman-Lands, and on Tuesday the La Lumiere Prep senior announced via Twitter that he’s verbally committed to attend the Big Ten school.
Coleman-Lands is a 6-foot-3 shooting guard from Indianapolis, and his commitment gives Illinois a versatile player who is regarded by some as one of the best shooters in the Class of 2015. Coleman-Lands played for the All-Ohio Red program this summer, averaging 14.8 points and 4.4 rebounds per game in Nike EYBL play.
Coleman-Lands cut his list to six schools in late-June, with Michigan, Indiana, Notre Dame, UNLV and NC State being the other schools that were in the running for his services at that time. Last week it was reported that Coleman-Lands was focusing on two of those schools, Illinois and UNLV.
Coleman-Lands becomes the third player in the Class of 2015 to commit to Illinois, joining four-star shooting guard Aaron Jordan and four-star small forward D.J. Williams. However even with those perimeter additions the Fighting Illini likely aren’t done recruiting in that area, with five-star point guard Jawun Evans being a target they hosted on an official visit in early September.
Evans, who hails from Dallas, Texas, is scheduled to take an official visit to Oklahoma State this week.
