An official campus visit for a basketball recruit can last a maximum of 48 hours, due to NCAA rules.

Elijah Thomas and Jalen Coleman both visited the Illinois campus this past weekend, and Illini head coach John Groce was met with a challenge: With only a weekend to work with, how do you make two top-40 ranked players feel like they’re both priority No. 1?

With 96 total hours to work with, Groce attempted to make each one of them count. He staggered Coleman’s and Thomas’ visits so both had the opportunity to enjoy being the center of attention, with an overlap period on Saturday for the two recruits to experience their visits simultaneously. Thomas’ visit took place from Friday until Sunday, and Coleman’s stretched from Saturday until Monday.

For Groce, an extra challenging layer to the situation was the fact that Thomas and Coleman are very different from each other, both as players and as people. Thomas is a bruising forward, while Coleman is a combo guard, and by all accounts, they possess very different personalities as well. Thomas is exuberant and outgoing, while Coleman is quiet and more reserved.

Throughout his time in Champaign, Thomas embraced his role as Big Man on Campus. The 6-foot-9 forward kept up a near constant dialogue on Twitter with Illini fans as he kept followers updated with tweets and pictures from his first-ever visit to Illinois. He could be seen decked out in Illini gear while making the rounds. He retweeted posts from Illini fans, many of whom included the hashtag #ILLijah. Even Thomas’ mom got in on the fun, engaging with fans on her account and posting selfies from her various stops during the visit.

Thomas arrived in town Thursday night and stayed at an off-campus hotel so his official visit could begin the next morning. During his tour of the Quad on Friday, he came across “ILLijah” messages written in chalk, courtesy of Illinois students. Everywhere Thomas went, people gawked. His physically imposing presence only added to the hype that already surrounded the weekend.

The public relations aspect of Coleman’s visit followed an opposite script. He arrived Saturday and attended the football game with Thomas, putting him in Thomas’ literal and figurative shadow from the get-go. At 6-foot-3 and 160 pounds, Coleman is much harder to pick out of a crowd. He rarely tweets, and he offered no behind-the-scenes insight about his visit through social media.

Coleman’s low-key demeanor has mirrored his recruitment, which has largely been kept under wraps by him and his family. Long considered a Notre Dame lean, Coleman surprised people last week by taking his Illini visit ahead of schedule and narrowing his current list of schools to Illinois and UNLV.

Details of the private portions of each visit began to come out as the weekend wrapped up. Eric Bossi of Rivals.com reported that Illinois has now emerged as the leader in Thomas’ recruitment, which is nothing but encouraging. For fans eagerly awaiting Thomas’ decision, Derek Piper of Big Stage Hoops revealed more good news: Thomas isn’t sure he will wait until November to decide, as previously reported.

As far as Coleman goes, Rivals.com analyst Brad Sturdy has said that the Illini are selling Coleman on the opportunity to take on some of the point guard duties in Groce’s screen-and-roll offense. Everything seems to indicate that both visits went very well.

Eye on Evans

This week’s focus now turns to another recruit, 2015 point guard Jawun Evans. The Illini still need a point guard in this recruiting class and are still in the running for Evans, who is set to begin his official visit to Oklahoma State on Wednesday.

Groce is scheduled to have an in-home visit with Evans on Tuesday prior to his Oklahoma State visit. Evans has also shortened his list to three schools, according to Lamont Simmons, his mentor and AAU coach. Illinois, Oklahoma State and USC are still in the running, while Texas has been eliminated. Evans will make his decision soon after his Oklahoma State visit.

“He’ll sit down and talk about things and really get down to the nitty-gritty with all three schools,” Simmons said. “He’ll probably end up making that decision before (next) weekend.”

Following Evans’ official visit to Illinois, Simmons mentioned that Evans was unwilling to commit to a class that featured two specialty point guards. His comment was in reference to Jalen Brunson, an elite point guard who ended up committing to Villanova. When asked if Evans could fit in an Illini class including Coleman, Simmons carried a different tune.

“I think they could fit together, no question,” he said.

Simmons cited the fact that Coleman is more of a combo guard as to why Evans and Coleman could fit in the same backcourt. He also thinks Evans would fit well in a class with Thomas, as they are friends and teammates on the AAU circuit.

“One big thing about freshmen coming into an unfamiliar environment, being comfortable is major,” Simmons said. “So I think they (would) bring a level of comfort playing with each other.”

With Illinois in the lead for Thomas, an Evans decision on the horizon and Coleman very much in play, there’s good reason to be optimistic if you’re an Illini fan.

We’ll see if Groce can close the deal.

Alex is a junior in AHS. He can be reached at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @aroux94.