An Illinois coach dropped by the school of 2026 forward Jaidyn Coon this week and extended an offer to the 6-foot-6 junior from Storm Lake (IA).
Illinois is the sixth high major offer for Coon, who has seen an uptick in his recruitment. He discusses his new offer from the Fighting Illini and how he would fit in the program.
Illinois is just ramping up its efforts with Coon and getting to know him. Assistant coach Zach Hamer heads up the recruitment. He dropped by Storm Lake High School in northwest Iowa on Wednesday and extended the offer.
"Coach Zach Hamer reached out a week before to try and set up a time where he could meet me at my school and watch me workout," Coon said. "After the workout today he sat me down to watch a video of the program how and it’s run and where they see me fit into the program. Then blessed me with a scholarship."
A high-scoring small forward, Coon averaged 19.8 points and 8.6 rebounds per game last year as a sophomore. He played for D1 Minnesota on the Adidas 3SSB circuit this summer.
Coon said he's familiar with the Illinois program and the success it has had under Coach Brad Underwood, including a run to the Elite 8 last season.
"What stands out the most about the offer is the program's past success in the past 5 years," Coon said. "And it wasn’t an offer I was expecting just because I just got into contract with coach last week, so it’s humbling and very exciting at the same time."
Other early offer for Coon include Nebraska, Creighton, Iowa, Iowa State, and TCU. An assistant coach from Iowa State was in to see him this week, and Iowa head coach Fran McCraffery recently dropped by his high school.
Coon plans to take a visit to Illinois during the basketball season, though a specific date isn't yet locked in. He's taking an unofficial visit to Nebraska this weekend. Coon took a visit to Iowa in early September.
A versatile and long athlete, Coon fits the mold of the position-less player that Underwood has previously targeted on the recruiting trail. Coon said the staff compares his skill set to a former Illini superstar.
"They like my athleticism and defensive versatility a lot," Coon said. " And they like my developing jump shot and how I keep improving it. They compared me to Terrence Shanno and they said I remind them of him because of how athletic I am and get out and go with good defense."
