Illinois Basketball: 3-star Jase Butler adds to growing 2024 recruiting class
Illinois Basketball was able to land another prospect in the 2024 recruiting class, this time in the backcourt. What does Jase Butler add to the program?
Another class of 2024 prospect has a commitment announcement to make this week. This time it was Jase Butler, a top-150 recruit in the 2024 class that some recruiting services have listed in the four-star classification. He’s a 6’4 combo guard with good size and versatility.
A good ball-handler, Butler is someone with the potential to run an offense. He has an all-around offensive game, with a growing shot from deep. While definitely not viewed as an early pro candidate as of now, he could be a long-term project that develops into a future key piece for the Illini.
Illinois Basketball was one of six contenders for Butler and they stood out for two reasons. One, they were easily the biggest program of the group, going up against programs such as Colorado State, LMU, New Mexico, UC Santa Barbara, and San Francisco. But they were also the lone team not located out west for the Californian prospect.
The good news for the Big Ten program is that geography didn’t matter to him. And now Butler is the first perimeter player in the 2024 class for the Illini. They’re set to lose guards Justin Harmon and Terrence Shannon Jr. for sure and who knows which underclassmen opts to leave after the season, depending on how things work out during the season.
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Butler joins four-star forward Morez Johnson and three-star big man Jason Jakstys for a three-man class, which 247sports ranks currently as the No. 10 overall group. There’s a chance that the program looks to add maybe one more high school player to round out the class, while leaving potentially a couple of spots open next offseason for another transfer portal hunt.