Georgetown transfer Isaac Copeland commits to Nebraska over Illinois Basketball, others

When Isaac Copeland announced a short list of schools following his departure from Georgetown, Fighting Illini basketball was a relatively surprising inclusion. The surprise wasn’t a talent-driven difference so much as it was due to the fact that a 6-foot-9 guard with a very particular skill set probably wasn’t going to solve any of Illinois’ problems. So, in my eyes, using one of the open scholarships wouldn’t have made much sense. John Groce evidently felt the same because the Orange and Blue weren’t even mentioned in the race following that initial shoutout.

Well, either way, Illinois will no longer be worrying about this recruitment going forward as Copeland announced a commitment to Tim Miles and Nebraska Cornhuskers on Monday.

Statement from Tim Miles (via Nebraska)

“Isaac’s commitment to Nebraska basketball is a great thing for the Nebraska basketball program, and we want to make it a great thing for Isaac as well. There were so many connections between Isaac and our program, but none more than important than assistant coach Kenya Hunter, who did an excellent job of helping to get him into our program.”

“Isaac is a great kid, a serious student and has immense talent for basketball. I love his demeanor and his versatility for the game. The sky is the limit for his potential. I can’t wait to get him healthy and to start working with him.”

Copeland, a former five-star prospect out of high school, was averaging 5.4 points and 3.3 rebounds per game to begin his junior season, but he had only received meaningful minutes in 5 out of Georgetown’s 12 games. The decline in performance seems to be a bit surprising considering that Copeland averaged 11.1 points, 5.4 rebounds, and 2.0 assists as a sophomore.