Illinois to Host 5-Star Brady Pettigrew, Top Player in the State

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Brad Underwood and the Fighting Illini have welcomed several highly-regarded basketball recruits on campus in recent weeks, but Friday’s scheduled visit from Brady Pettigrew may be the most significant of them all.

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Pettigrew, a five-star guard from Bolingbrook High School, and the top-ranked prospect in Illinois in the 2028 recruiting class is scheduled to arrive in Champaign on Oct. 2. This is far from Pettigrew’ first visit to Champaign, he has been on campus several times already for unofficial visits, but it will be his first time to get an idea of what being a student at Illinois feels like.

The 6-foot-3 Pettigrew is ranked as the No. 14 player overall in the 2028 recuiting cycle according to 24/7 Sports Composite rankings.

For Illinois, the interest in the guard goes beyond his personal accomplishments on the basketball court. Head coach Brad Underwood has done a fantastic job building his rosters with a blend of domestic and international talent. The program has built a reputation as being a destination for international talent by bringing in names like Kasparas Jakucionis, David Mirkovic, and Tomislav Ivisic in recent memory.

Brady Pettigrew, the state’s top prospect, will be taking an official visit to Champaign on Friday Oct. 2.

Adding an elite prospect from the Chicago suburbs could provide another dimension to that approach. Pettigrew can represent an opportunity for Illinois to establish that despite their success internationally, they are still able to lock down the top players in their own state.

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Illinois extended Pettigrew an offer in April of 2025, the first major program to do so. He’s visited campus plenty of times which has given both sides to really establish and build on a relationship.

This upcoming weekend will be Brad Underwood’s opportunity to sell Pettigrew on what kind of role he could play for the program.

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Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/illinois-host-5-star-brady-150036984.html

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Publish date : 2026-09-30 15:00:00

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