Xavier Sneed, a small forward in the 2016 class, has committed to Kansas State over Illinois.

The St. Louis-area native is ranked as the No. 92 player in the 2016 class by Rivals.com, and he took an official visit to the Illinois campus in late August.

Sneed’s decision to commit elsewhere means Groce’s 2016 class remains just one member deep for the time being. Point guard Te’Jon Lucas committed to the Illini on Sept. 16.

Groce isn’t out of options in the 2016 class. He and his staff hosted big man James Banks and the rest of Banks’ La Lumiere High School team over the weekend, including during the home football game against Middle Tennessee State. Banks is rated as a four-star prospect by 247sports.com.

Landing a post player instead of a wing like Sneed fills a more pressing need in this particular class, as the wing position at Illinois figures to be extremely crowded going forward. Sneed is talented and certainly could have helped the Illini, but he was not a must-get for Groce.

With Groce eyeing an incredibly deep 2017 in-state class, his 2016 class figures to remain small. But landing a guy like Banks would be huge for class balance going forward.