Top recruit Matthews chooses Kentucky over Illinois, others

By Johnathan Hettinger

The best basketball player in Illinois in the class of 2015 is not going to be an Illini.
 
Charles Matthews of Chicago St. Rita, a five-star shooting guard, announced he will be attending Kentucky on Wednesday.
 
Matthews’ final five included Illinois, Kansas, Kentucky, Marquette and Michigan State.
 
Matthews, the No. 12 recruit in the country according to ESPN, would have been the best recruit to attend Illinois since at least Dee Brown, who was ranked as the No. 19 recruit in the nation in 2002.
 
Illinois already has two in-state commits in the class of 2015: D.J. Williams of Simeon and Aaron Jordan of Plainfield East.
 
Williams, a small forward, is the second-best player in the state and the No. 31 recruit in the nation, according to ESPN. Jordan, a shooting guard, is ranked as the No. 10 player in the state of Illinois and not in the nation’s top 60, according to ESPN. Rivals, however, has Jordan has the nation’s No. 60 recruit.
 
Johnathan can be reached at [email protected] and @jhett93.