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The writing has been on the wall for months, but Illini fans refused to accept it. Marcus LoVett Jr. announced his commitment to St. John's late Wednesday night via Twitter; the Morgan Park (IL) star selected the Red Storm over Illinois, Memphis, and a few other schools.
It's official NLI is done mom and dad trust this was best decision I made for MYSELF BrightLights here we come... pic.twitter.com/hQcRFgaozd
— Marcus LoVett (@Marcus_LoVett) May 21, 2015
Illinois still has one open scholarship for the 2015-16 season. The only other player with an offer is Bradley transfer Josh Cunningham--he visited Champaign back on May 15th. Cunningham was a former top-100 recruit in the class of 2014 and he'd have three years of eligibility remaining after sitting out next season.
As for Illinois' ongoing point guard problem, the solution won't be coming until at least 2016. The only 'elite' guard with an offer is Alterique Gilbert (GA) and the Illini will be going up against UConn, Texas, Louisville, and Syracuse for him. For more on the program's recruiting targets, check out our Illinois Basketball scholarship grid.
¯\_(ツ)_/¯
That's really all we've got right now. We'll have some more on this development and its impact on Illinois Thursday afternoon.
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