CHAMPAIGN — April 2017 was a busy month for Illinois basketball. Recently hired coach Brad Underwood rounded out his coaching staff just in time for the first two spring evaluation period and to hand out a flood of scholarship offers in the 2018, 2019 and 2020 classes.
Jaime Jaquez Jr. was the first to nab an Illinois offer on Monday afternoon in Underwood’s second spring as coach after a strong start to the Nike EYBL season. Jaquez averaged 20.2 points and seven rebounds in four games playing for The Truth this past weekend in Dallas.
@jaquez_jr has picked up an offer from @IlliniMBB after an incredible weekend playing in Dallas on the @NikeEYB @TheTruthEYBL @VerbalCommits @PatLawless_ @vcspreps @TheAcornSports @latsondheimer
— ACHS Basketball (@ACHS_Hoops805) April 23, 2018
Jaquez is a consensus four-star prospect and is ranked as high as No. 70 in the 2019 class by 247Sports. The 6-foot-7, 210-pound wing has been just as productive during his prep career at Adolfo Camarillo (Calif.) High School.
A varsity standout as a freshman, Jaquez has averaged a double-double the past two seasons. He put up 31 points, 12.8 rebounds and 2.8 assists per game this past season — shooting 50 percent from the field overall and 34 percent from three-point range — for the 15-12 Scorpions.
Jaquez has more than a dozen Division I offers, with most coming from west coast teams. His other offers include Long Beach State, Georgetown, Memphis, Montana, Oregon State, Pepperdine, St. John’s, San Francisco, Stanford, UC Santa Barbara, UCLA, USC and Utah.