NCAA Basketball Recruiting: Illinois adds Benjamin Bosmans-Verdonk to 2019 class

Illinois continues to add to their 2019 recruiting class with the commitment of Benjamin Bosmans-Verdonk.

In this edition of the Daily NCAA Basketball Recruiting Notebook, I will look at the impact of Benjamin Bosmans-Verdonk joining the Illinois Illini along with news about Kerry Blackshear Jr., Bretner Mutumbo and  Kennedy Chandler.

Illinois’ coach Brad Underwood added another recruit to the Illini’s 2019 recruiting class when Benjamin Bosmans-Verdonk signed with the program on June 8. The 6’7″ Belgium import announced that he was joining the program via Instagram

"” First off, a big s/o goes to my teammates, coaches and everyone else that played a part in my personal development and helped me become the young man I am today, both on and off the court. More importantly, I want to thank my family and in particular my parents and wonderful brother for being my biggest support and sticking by my side no matter what.”“With this being said, I’m truly blessed to announce that I’ve signed with the University of Illinois. I’m extremely excited to become a part of the #Illini family. #EveryDayGuys”"

It is always tough to get an initial handle on international recruits abilities due to a lack of information. With t that being said, Bosmans-Verdonk is a lengthy versatile forward with decent athleticism who can shoot and pass well. He has the ability to put the ball on the floor and space out the defense with his shot-making ability. Foot speed and lateral quickness are two areas of concern for the Lommel native.

Bosmans-Verdonk averaged 3.8 points, on 45% (18-40) shooting from the field and 21.7% (5-23) from beyond the arc, along with 2.5 rebounds and 2.5 shots in 13.8 minutes over 17 appearances for KON BC Gistel Oostende last season.

Bosmans-Verdonk is the third member of the Illini’s current recruiting class joining four-star  6’11” center Kofi Cockburn and 6’10” power forward Bernard Kouma. With Bosmans-Verdonk’s addition, Illinois now has six international players on its roster with Cockburn (Jamaica), Kouma (Chad), sophomore big man Giorgi Bezhanishvili (Republic of Georgia), senior point guard Andres Feliz (Dominican Republic) and sophomore big man Samba Kane (Senegal). It is unlikely that Bosmans-Verdonk will have much of role this year and he is certainly a candidate to be redshirted.

Illinois was really young last season and they should see a jump in their win total this upcoming season, although seven of the Illini’s 12 wins were during Big Ten play — which was three more than they accumulated in Underwood’s first season in Champagne. 2018-19 all-Big Ten freshman selection Ayo Dounmu, junior point guard Trent Frazier along with Feliz and Bezhanishvili, as well as Cockburn, should make the Illini a fun team to watch this upcoming season.

Underwood, who is 26-39 overall and 11-29 in the league, has two more scholarships available to use this year. Illinois has one scholarship remaining and they are favored to land three-star point guard Marquise Walker (Chicago, IL) if they decide to use it on another guard. However, what the Illini really need is an interior player who can protect the rim and rebound on the defensive end.

More recruiting tidbits

• Winning the Kerry Blackshear Jr. sweepstakes is the Tennesee Volunteers top priority, per Jake Weingarten of Stockrisers on June 8. Weingarten added that coach Bruce Pearl hopes to bring the 6’10” power forward on a campus visit sometime next week.  Blackshear is finishing up an official visit at Arkansas today. He took an official visit to Florida on Wednesday.
• Top-75 2021 prospect Bretner Motumbo, who is the son of former NBA center Dikembe, took an unofficial visit to Michigan on June 7. The 6’10”, 210-pound center is rated as the 60th best prospect in the class by 247 Sports, 61st by Rivals, and 72nd by 247Sports Composite. He currently has nine scholarship offers although Michigan is not one of the teams that have made an overture. Auburn, Mississippi State, Florida, Georgia Tech, Clemson, Xavier, and New Mexico are among the schools that have offered him.
• UNC transfer Seventh Woods officially joined the South Carolina Gamecocks as he signed his NLI on June 8.

• Top-50 2021 recruit Kennedy Chandler (Memphis, TN) participated in the Memphis Tigers’ elite prospect camp on June 8. He doesn’t currently hold an offer from the Tigers but he is reportedly definitely on their radar. Tennessee, Missouri, Ole Miss,and, FSU are among the 17 schools that have offered him.
• Former Kansas State guard Goodnews Kpegeol has landed at Southwest Mississippi CC. Kpegol, who spent half-a-season at post-secondary TaylorMade Academy (Pensacola, FL), redshirted last year after joining the Wildcats on Dec. 31.