2016 point guard Alterique Gilbert to announce college decision on Saturday

Per his Twitter, 2016 point guard Alterique Gilbert will be announcing his college decision on Saturday morning; he's considering Illinois, Louisville, UConn, Texas, and Syracuse. The 5'10 Georgia native is ranked as the No. 37 overall recruit and No. 6 player at his position in 247Sports' composite rankings.

Very excited about announcing my college decision Saturday morning July 4th ! Stay tuned in . https://t.co/k3CO0dM2Io

— Alterique Gilbert (@Alterique_G) July 3, 2015

Gilbert appears to be a long shot for John Groce and the Illini. He's had some great things to say about the program, but he unfortunately never made it to campus for a visit. So barring a complete surprise this weekend, expect Illinois' never-ending search for a point guard to continue.

Texas picked up a commitment from four-star guard Jacob Young this week, so the Longhorns are presumably out of the race.

If it weren't for the upcoming scholarship sanctions, Syracuse would probably be a bigger factor in this recruitment. Gilbert actually stated at one point that he grew up rooting for the Orange.

That leaves Louisville and UConn. Gilbert's only official visit was awarded to Kevin Ollie and the Huskies, so they're the smart pick right now. However, the Cardinals became a "big factor" in this recruitment during the Spring evaluation period--it wouldn't be out of the question to see him pledge a commitment to Rick Pitino and company.

Check out our Illinois Basketball Recruiting Board for more on the program's targets.

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