2016 point guard Alterique Gilbert commits to UConn over Illinois and Louisville

Per his Twitter, 2016 point guard Alterique Gilbert has given a verbal commitment to Kevin Ollie and UConn; he selected the Huskies over Illinois, Louisville, 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.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-partner="tweetdeck"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Blessed beyond measure to have the opportunity to play college basketball . I&#39;ve decided to end my recruitment and Commit to UCONN ! <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Husky?src=hash">#Husky</a></p>&mdash; Alterique Gilbert (@Alterique_G) <a href="https://twitter.com/Alterique_G/status/617322768640704512">July 4, 2015</a></blockquote>

<script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Another recruiting loss stings for the Illini, but this doesn't come as a surprise because Gilbert's only official visit was to UConn back in April. Here's the latest update on Illinois' point guard targets.

2016 Illini Basketball Recruiting Board
Player	State	Rating	Rivals	247Sports	Ht	Wt	Offer	Status
POINT GUARDS
Tony Carr	PA		76	66	6’3	170	X	Cool
Charlie Moore	IL		-	77	5’10	160	X	Hot
Xavier Simpson	OH		122	79	5’11	165	X	Warm
Considering: Illinois, Xavier, Iowa St., Iowa, Purdue, Texas Tech
Bryce Aiken	NJ		130	85	5’9	150	X	Cool
Jermaine Haley	CAN		-	208	6’7	185	X	Cool
Alterique Gilbert	GA		77	37	6’0	160	X	UConn (Verbal)
Anthony Cowan	MD		53	90	6’0	170	X	Maryland (Verbal)
C.J. Walker	IN		148	94	6’0	180	X	Florida St. (Verbal)
Lamar Peters	LA		135	87	6’0	165	X	Mississippi St. (Verbal)

Click here to view the entire Recruiting Board.

The list is growing shorter by the week and there are really only two realistic candidates left for the class of 2016--Xavier Simpson and Charlie Moore.

Simpson is considering Illinois, Xavier, Iowa St., Iowa, Purdue, and Texas Tech. He's considered to be leaning towards the Musketeers, but good news is that he delayed his announcement a few weeks ago in order to take more visits; one of those will almost certainly be to Champaign.

At this point, Charlie Moore is the guard that's most likely to commit to the Illini. The Chicago native took an unofficial visit to Illinois a few weeks ago along with Nick Irvin, who's his coach at Morgan Park HS.

So while this isn't the most ideal start to the 4th of July for Illini fans, there are still a few point guard options available. John Groce and company will land one eventually, right?

*****

Follow The Champaign Room on Twitter at @Champaign_Room and Like us on Facebook. You can follow Jim Vainisi on Twitter at @JimVainisi.