Good Morning, Illini Nation: Illinois offers Class of 2025 wing Efeosa Oliogu
May 4—Welcome to "Good Morning, Illini Nation," your daily dose of college basketball news from Illini beat writer and AP Top 25 voter Scott Richey. He'll offer up insights every morning on Brad Underwood's team:
Illinois tapped into the Canadian recruiting market last week with an offer to Class of 2025 wing Will Riley. The Illini went for the two-fer this week with an offer to another Class of 2025 wing in Efeosa Oliogu. The 6-foot-5, 200-pound small forward is from Markham, Ontario, and plays at United Scholastic Academy in Toronto.
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Oliogu is ranked as a four-star recruit in the Class of 2025 by both 247Sports and On3. The latter has him as high as the No. 11 overall prospect in the class behind the likes of other Illinois targets like Perry (Ariz.) forward Koa Peat and Cuyahoga Valley Christian Academy (Ohio) guard Darryn Peterson.
Offers from Illinois and Georgetown this week mark another phase of Oliogu's recruitment. He has more than a dozen total offers, with DePaul, Providence, Stonehill, TCU, Oregon, Washington State, North Carolina A&T, Long Island, Rutgers, Texas Tech, Vanderbilt, Syracuse, Alabama and Central Florida also involved.
Oliogu plays for Canada Elite in the Under Armour Association and is playing up on the 17U circuit this spring. He didn't play in the first session, but averaged 20.8 points, five rebounds, 2.6 assists and 2.2 steals while shooting 64.5 percent in five games last weekend in the second session in Rock Hill, S.C.
"Another big wing, he got downhill as well as anyone in the field and had an unmatched combination of explosive vertical athleticism and sheer power," 247Sports' Adam Finkelstein wrote about Oliogu after seeing him on the UAA circuit. "Whether he was rising-up to catch lobs or punctuating a hard straight-line drive, he rattled the rim on more than one occasion. The Canada Elite product also has body control and dexterity in his finishing package, and, like Abaev, he too shows some signs of being able to facilitate for those around him."
Oliogu has also represented Canada internationally. He played for the bronze medal-winning Canadians at the FIBA U16 Americas Championship in 2021 and put up 12.2 points, 3.8 rebounds, 2.3 assists and 1.5 steals per game. He had his best game in a quarterfinals victory against Puerto Rico with 16 points, eight rebounds, four assists and four steals. He also scored 17 points in Canada's semifinals loss to the United States. The eventual gold medalists boasted former Urbana Middle School star Kylan Boswell and 2023 News-Gazette All-State Player of the Year Jeremy Fears Jr.
