Jase Butler, the No. 97 overall recruit in the 2024 class, has requested a release from his National Letter of Intent and decommitted from Illinois, per 247Sports. He originally announced his commitment to Illinois on Oct. 4, 2023.
Butler signed his NLI a month later on Nov. 8, choosing to come to Champaign over multiple mid-major offers, including UC Santa Barbara and Colorado State. Illinois assistant coach Chester Frazier was the leading recruiter in the program’s pursuit of Butler. The 6-foot-4-inch guard just finished his senior season at The Branson School in Ross, California.
Butler’s decommitment currently leaves Illinois without a guard in their incoming class of 2024 recruits, likely due to the program placing more emphasis on finding guards in the transfer portal and putting more stock in rising sophomore Dra Gibbs-Lawhorn. The Illini still have two incoming class of 2024 prospects: 6-foot-9-inch four-star Morez Johnson (No. 29) and 6-foot-10-inch three-star Jason Jakstys (No. 119). They also recently acquired 6-foot-6-inch sharpshooter Jake Davis via the transfer portal.
@sahil_mittal24
