2021 4-star St. Louis Wing Jordan Nebsitt Has Illini in Final Three Choices
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. -- Jordan Nesbitt has narrowed his list of college choices down to three and says he’ll be celebrating his birthday by giving his verbal commitment.
Nesbitt, a consensus four-star wing in the 2021 class, confirmed on Twitter Friday afternoon that he’s down to Illinois, Saint Louis and Memphis are his three possibilities. The senior 6-foot-6 and 180-pound forward at St. Louis Christian Academy, who is ranked No. 88 among ESPN’s Top 100 prospects for the 2021 class, averaged 25 points and 12 rebounds during the 2019-20 season.
Nesbitt also said on Twitter last week that he’ll be verbally committing to one of these three programs on his birthday of Oct. 1.
Despite a noted fan base in St. Louis that is represented every year in the Braggin’ Rights rivalry game vs. Missouri, Nesbitt could be the first letterwinner from the city of St. Louis to wear an Illini jersey since Bill Morris in 1972.
Illinois assistant coach Orlando Antigua, pictured here in Dec. 2016 when he was the head coach at South Florida, is the Illini's primary recruiter for four-star 2021 wing Jordan Nesbitt.
Kim Klement/USA TODAY Sports
The primary recruiter for Nesbitt on the Illinois staff is assistant Orlando Antigua, who was instrumental in bringing players with an international background to the Illini including Andres Feliz, Kofi Cockburn and Andre Curbelo in three straight recruiting years. Antigua, who has a six-year tenure (2008-14) of recruiting players as an assistant for John Calipari at Memphis and Kentucky, has a history of being the primary recruiter for signees Karl-Anthony Towns, Terrence Jones and Nerlens Noel.
Nesbitt is familiar with the Illinois campus in Champaign-Urbana after making an unofficial visit on March 1 where he attended the Illini’s 67-66 victory over Indiana in State Farm Center.
The Illini are looking to rebound from a string of near-misses on the recruiting trail for the 2021 class after both four-star wing Brandon Weston committed to Seton Hall and four-star wing David Jones committed to DePaul last month.
Illinois has a verbal commitment from 2021 6-foot-5 small forward Luke Goode but the Fort Wayne, Ind., product is seen more of a pure shooter and Underwood’s program would obviously like to bring in a 2021 player that is more of a slasher on the opposite wing. The Illini are also still highly involved in the recruitment of four-star, 6-foot-10 center Mac Etienne (Wolfeboro, N.H.) and 6-foot-3 point guard TyTy Washington (Chandler, Ariz.) in the 2021 class.