Good Morning, Illini Nation: Old friend alert
- Story byThe News-Gazette, Champaign-Urbana, Ill.
- Good Morning, Illini Nation: Old friend alert
Aug. 19—Tuesday afternoon's news that AJ Storr had committed to UNLV had me digging through the N-G archives. Joe Tipton's report for On3 on the latest move from Storr came 1,960 days after the Class of 2022 guard committed to Illinois.
Storr told me in April 2021 that Illinois' recruiting pitch centered on how the Illini could "develop me a lot skill-wise, physical-wise and get me ready."
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Roughly one month later Storr, who had just wrapped up the 2020-21 season at Compass Prep (Ariz.) after stops at Rockford Lutheran, Kankakee and Bishop Gorman (Nev.), decommitted from the Illini. He wound up transferring to IMG Academy (Fla.) to finish his prep career and kept up on his yearly moves at the next level.
UNLV will be Storr's fifth team in five years if the injunctions agianst the NCAA hold and players from the Class of 2022 gets that bonus year of eligibility they're seeking. A career that's taken him from St. John's to Wisconsin to Kansas to Mississippi and will now circle back to Las Vegas.
The latest chapter in Storr's journey provides an opportunity to reflect on where Illinois has come since it secured his commitment 5 years, 4 months and 12 days ago.
The Illini's 2022 recruiting class at that juncture featured Storr and Reggie Bass. The latter never made it to Champaign either, playing instead at Central Michigan, Kent State and Lindenwood before committing to Bethune-Cookman ahead of the 2025-26 season but never playing for the Wildcats.
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Illinois eventually wound up with a top 10 class in 2022, signing Ty Rodgers, Skyy Clark, Jayden Epps and Sencire Harris. None of those four, of course, finished (or will finish) their careers in Champaign. Clark left midway through the 2022-23 season, Epps was gone by that season's end, Harris a year later and then Rodgers this offseason after not playing for two straight years but serving a valued cultural role within the program.
That's the state of college basketball — of college athletics — in this new era. Where playing for five teams in five seasons is possible if you try hard enough (and can work the judicial system to your favor).
That doesn't mean I fall into the "College sports is broken" camp, but, boy, can it be a wild ride.
