'Skill level and shooting ability stand out right away' Brandon Lieb Signs With Illinois

Illinois officially announced Friday afternoon Lieb, the 7-foot center from Deerfield (Ill.) High School.

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. -- It should come as little surprise to anyone that Brandon Lieb took less than 48 hours after giving a verbal commitment to sign with Illinois.

Illinois officially announced Friday afternoon Lieb, the 7-foot center from Deerfield (Ill.) High School, signed his National Letter-of-Intent to be a member of the Illini basketball roster starting with the upcoming 2020-21 season.

"We're excited to have Brandon join our program and help him achieve his dream of wearing the Orange and Blue," Illinois head coach Brad Underwood said in a university release.

Before the COVID-19 epidemic shut down all high school basketball in the state of Illinois, Lieb averaged 13.5 points, 9.3 rebounds and 2.5 blocks in his senior year at Deerfield. In an exclusive Zoom video interview with Illini Now/Sports Illustrated, he called Illinois his "dream school" and received a scholarship offer from Illini assistant coach Ronald 'Chin' Coleman

“A lot of schools started to tell me they wanted me bad in the Class 2020 but even then, some schools weren’t comfortable with making me an offer because they’d never seen me play in person,” Lieb said. “Illinois knew me. They’d seen me play full games. Saying all that, when I heard they were at all interested, it blew me away. It is a dream school for me. Great academics. Close to home. How could I go wrong, right?”

Signed ➡️ @brandonlieb12

Welcome to the #Illini Family, Brandon! #EveryDayGuyshttps://t.co/fBQWqMX9V5

— Illinois Men's Basketball (@IlliniMBB) June 26, 2020

Lieb, who weighs just 210 pounds, has actually played competitive basketball on the State Farm Center floor as his Deerfield (Ill.) High School program was one of the schools for Illinois’ team camp in June and then Lieb was invited to participate in the midwest region version of the NCAA College Basketball Academy hosted by Illinois in July. During those days in July 2019, Lieb was able to further search out the campus on his own and keep in the back of his mind that Illinois would always have a shot at securing his basketball future.

"Brandon's skill level and shooting ability stand out right away. He can really space the floor at the '5'. He has a strong work ethic and is motivated to be part of our player development program, where he will add strength and weight to his frame,” Underwood said. “Brandon is also a tremendous student who will excel at the University of Illinois. We feel fortunate to add to our 2020 class someone with both the athletic and academic caliber of Brandon Lieb, and are pleased to welcome him to the Fighting Illini family."

Lieb joins four-star combo guard Adam Miller, four-star point guard Andre Curbelo (Vega Baja, Puerto Rico/Long Island Lutheran), and three-star power forward Coleman Hawkins in Illinois’ 2020 recruiting, which ranks No. 12 nationally by Rivals.com and No. 15 by 247Sports.com.