Orange & Blue News is taking a look back at the Fighting Illini past recruiting classes.

In Part VIII — the final installment of the series — we take an in-depth look at the Illinois recruiting classes from 2016-21, which proved to be the end of coach John Groce’s recruiting and all the classes current coach Brad Underwood has landed.

Part I — 1980-1985 | Part II — 1986-1990 | Part III - 1991-1995 | Part IV - 1996-2005 | Part V - 2001-2005 | Part VI - 2006-2010 | Part VII: 2011-2015

Te’Jon Lucas (6-0, PG, Milwaukee (Wis.) Washington High).

Overview: Illinois created a little bit of modern recruiting history by going to Milwaukee to land Lucas, who Rivals.com ranked No. 148 overall in the country.

The pass-first and defensive-minded Lucas was a part-time starter in his two years with the Fighting Illini. He averaged 5.2 points, 2.1 rebounds, 3.2 assists and 1.1 steals in 60 career games (34 starts). His second season was interrupted by suspension. Lucas shot 44.6 percent from the field and 33.3 percent on three-pointers for Illinois.

Lucas elected to transfer back home to Wisconsin-Milwaukee, where put together two productive seasons. However, he will finish out his college career at BYU this season.

Lucas averaged 14.7 points, 4.4 rebounds, 5.4 assists and 1.6 steals per game at UWM. He shot 41.0 percent from the field, 30.0 percent on three-pointers and 76.5 percent at the free-throw line. Lucas was named third-team All-Horizon League last year, and he was second-team all-league in 2020.

Interesting tidbits: Lucas was reunited at Wisconsin-Milwaukee with former Illinois assistant coach Paris Parham, who joined the DePaul staff this offseason. Parham was at Illinois for five years under former coach John Groce.

Trent Frazier (6-2, SG, Wellington (Fla.) High).

Mark Smith (6-4, PG, Edwardsville (Ill.) High).

Da’Monte Williams (6-3, SG, Peoria (Ill.) Manual High).

Mark Alstork (6-5, SG, Wright State transfer); From Dayton (Ohio) Thurgood Marshall High.

Matic Vesel (6-9, PF, Domzale in Ljubljana, Slovenia).

Greg Eboigbodin (6-9, C, Detroit (Mich.) Jesuit High); From Benin City, Nigeria.

Overview: Illinois landed a pair of top 100 guards, plus a third who likely would have been ranked if he had stayed healthy his senior year of high school. Former coach John Groce was let go, with the spring signees achieved by new coach Brad Underwood, who was hired March 18, 2017.

Frazier enters his fifth year playing for Illinois, and ranks fourth in school history with 243 three-pointers. Frazier has started 107 of 126 games at UI, and has averaged 11.4 points, 2.3 rebounds, 2.6 assists and 1.3 steals per game. He often guarded the opposing team’s top scoring guard last year, and was named first-team All-Big Ten defensively Frazier, who was ranked No. 95 overall nationally by Rivals.com, averaged 10.2 points and 2.7 assists per game during last year’s near-magical season.

Frazier has shot 38.9 percent from the field, 35.8 percent on three-pointers and 76.4 at the free-throw line during his Fighting Illini career. He has averaged in double figures in three of his four years. Frazier has 1,434 points and could easily finish in the top 10 in scoring all-time at Illinois with a healthy last year.

The Rivals.com four-star Williams was injured his senior year at famed Peoria Manual High. The son of former Manual and Illinois standout Frank Williams, he committed to Illinois on Feb. 29, 2016, leaving little drama in his recruitment. However, he injured his ACL on Dec. 2, 2016, after three games his senior year.

Williams has been a jack of all trades at Illinois, but really improved his three-point shooting this past year, shooting 54.7 percent from beyond the arc en route to 5.5 points and 5.3 rebounds per game. Williams has started 6 of 126 games he has played in, and has another year of eligibility remaining.

Williams has averaged 3.8 points, 3.8 rebounds and 1.3 assists per game in his UI career, and shot 38.9 percent from the field 36.6 percent on three-pointers and 69.6 percent at the free-throw line.

Smith’s recruitment proved to be one of the more fascinating ones from the last decade. He was committed to play baseball at Missouri, but suffered an injury that prevented him from playing baseball. He blew up his senior year and picked Illinois in the spring for basketball. Rivals.com ranked him the No. 55 overall player in the country.

The power point guard started 18 of 31 games he played in his freshman year at Illinois, but struggled with his shot. He made 33.7 percent from the field, 23.2 percent on three-pointers and 79.6 percent from the line. Smith averaged a modest 5.8 points and 1.4 assists per game, and elected to transfer to Missouri for his next three years.

Smith became a steady guard for the Tigers and averaged 10.3 points, 4.0 rebounds and 1.1 assists per game in 69 games played (60 starts). He shot 39.8 percent from the field, 37.5 percent on three-pointers and 75.7 percent from the free-throw line. He made 45 percent of his three-pointers en route to a career-high 11.4 points per game his sophomore year. Smith is on his to his third college, and will play for former UI coach Bruce Weber at Kansas State this season.

Alstork arrived as a graduate transfer to Illinois and started all 32 games his senior year. He played at Ball State his freshman year, but then blossomed at Wright State, where he averaged 19.0 points and 3.5 assists per game in 2016-17. He averaged 15.6 points, 4.7 rebounds and 2.6 assists in his two years at Wright State. Alstork shot 41.4 percent from the field, 38.3 percent on three-pointers and 78.4 percent at the free-throw line.

The adjustment to the Big Ten proved difficult and he shot 33.5 percent in his lone year at Illinois, plus 24.1 percent from beyond the arc and 76.4 percent at the foul line. He averaged 5.8 points and 3.4 rebounds a contest for the Fighting Illini.

The three-star Eboigbodin was originally a Illinois-Chicago signee, but Illinois landed him in the spring. He played in 30 games (two starts) and averaged 2.2 points and 2.4 rebounds per game in his lone season at Illinois. He shot 55.1 percent from the field and 44.0 percent at the free-throw line.

Eboigbodin landed at Northeastern and sat out the 2018-19 season. He has averaged 2.9 points and 3.7 rebounds a contest for the Huskies, starting 16 of 46 games he has played in. Eboigbodin has shot 47.6 percent from the field and 86.8 percent at the free-throw line.

Vesel was also a late addition and played in 16 games before leaving to play basketball overseas in Slovenia. He had seven points, eight rebounds and five assists in 70 minutes played.

Interesting tidbits: Williams’ dad, Frank Williams, averaged 14.3 points and 4.3 assists per game at Illinois, and collected 212 career steals, which was good for 15th in Big Ten history. Williams went No. 25 overall in the first round of the 2002 NBA Draft, and played for the New York Knicks from 2002-04.

Ayo Dosunmu (6-5, PG, Chicago (Ill.) Morgan Park High).

Giorgi Bezhanishvili (6-9, C, Hillside (N.J.) The Patrick School); From Rustavi Georgia.

Alan Griffin (6-5, SF, Ossining (N.Y.) Archbishop Stepinac High).

Andres Feliz (6-2, SG, Niceville (Fla.) Northwest Florida State College); From Guachupita, Dominican Republic and Orlando (Fla.) West Oaks Academy.

Adonis De La Rosa (7-0, C, Kent State transfer); From Middle Village (N.Y.) Christ the King.

Anthony Higgs (6-8, PF, Baltimore (Md.) Perry Hall High).

Samba Kane (7-0, C, Melbourne (Fla.) Florida Prep Academy); From Dakar, Senegal.

Tevian Jones (6-6, SF, Culver City (Calif.) High).

Overview: Illinois landed an eclectic class with one super star, three players who proved to be role players and four who didn’t pan out.

Dosunmu was the “must get” in the class and Rivals.com ranked him the No. 30 overall player in the country. He helped lead the Fighting Illini to the Big Ten Tournament championship, and was named the Most Outstanding Player.

He won the Bob Cousy Award for the nation’s top point guard, and was a consensus first-team All-American last year. He averaged 20.1 points, 6.3 rebounds, 5.3 assists and 1.1 steals per game his junior campaign. Dosunmu ranked second in the Big Ten in both points and assists a contest, plus was even 13th in boards.

The media voted him first-team All-Big Ten in both 2020 and 2021, and he earned a spot on the all-freshman squad for the league in 2019.

Dosunmu improved every season and averaged 16.7 points, 4.8 rebounds, 3.9 assists and 1.1 steals per game in 90 career games (all starts). He shot 47.0 percent from the field, 34.5 percent on three-pointers and 75.0 percent at the free-throw line.

Dosunmu entered his name in the NBA Draft and went No. 38 overall to his hometown Chicago Bulls this summer.

Bezhanishvili proved to be a sleeper recruit who made an instant impact for Illinois. The Rivals.com three-star prospect was added in the spring, and averaged 12.5 points and 5.2 rebounds per game his freshman year, shooting 54.2 from the field and 65.7 percent from the free-throw line.

Bezhanishvili’s numbers fell off some with the arrival of Kofi Cockburn, but he was always dependable. He averaged 8.2 points and 4.3 rebounds in his three-year Illinois career, and shot 50.7 percent from the field and 63.6 percent at the free-throw line. He didn’t start a game his junior campaign last year, but chipped in 5.1 points and 2.7 rebounds a contest.

Bezhanishvili entered the NBA Draft and went undrafted, but he signed an Exhibit 10 deal with the Denver Nuggets in mid-Sept.

Feliz started 20 of 64 games he played in during his two-year stint at Illinois. The former junior college standout finished his career strong with 11.0 points, 5.0 rebounds and 2.9 assists per game in 2019-20. He improved his numbers across the board from his first year at UI, when he averaged 8.3 points, 2.9 rebounds and 2.2 assists a contest.

Feliz shot 45.7 percent from the field, 27.3 percent on three-pointers and 76.3 percent at the free-throw line in his two years with the Fighting Illini. He is playing professionally in the Spanish Liga ACB league.

Griffin, the son of former NBA player Adrian Griffin, played two years at Illinois before making the move to Syracuse.

The former Rivals.com three-star prospect played in 58 games (two starts) for the Fighting Illini, and averaged 5.8 points and 3.0 rebounds in 12.8 minutes per game. He shot 45.3 percent from the field, 38.4 percent on three-pointers and 77.8 percent from the free-throw line.

Griffin improved to 13.3 points, 5.8 rebounds and 1.2 steals per game with the Orange. He started 27 of 28 games he played in and shot 43.1 percent from the field and 36.1 percent on three-pointers. He elected to enter the NBA Draft, but went undrafted.

The Rivals.com three-star Kane had 27 points, nine rebounds and 10 blocks in 87 minutes over 18 games in his lone year at Illinois. He transferred to San Francisco, where he averaged 2.7 points and 2.3 rebounds in 9.7 minutes per game last year.

Rivals.com ranked Jones the No. 86 overall player in the country, but he struggled at Illinois. He had averaged 2.6 points and 1.1 rebounds in 7.5 minutes per game with the Fighting Illini, where he left after playing 38 games over two years.

Jones found his stride last year at Southern Utah, and averaged 16.9 points and 2.5 rebounds a contest en route to first-team All-Big Sky. He shot 42.4 percent from the field, 34.9 percent on three-pointers and 85.9 percent from the free-throw line.

The massive De La Rosa played at Kent State for two years before making the move to Illinois for one year. He averaged 11.8 points and 7.6 rebounds per game at Kent State in 2017-18, and shot 56.4 percent from the field and 78.5 percent at the free-throw line.

De La Rosa fell to 2.3 points and 1.8 rebounds in 8.8 minutes per game for the Fighting Illini. He played in 26 games (one start) and shot 35.2 percent from the field and 71.0 percent from the free-throw line.

Higgs originally committed to Ole Miss, but the former Rivals.com three-star prospect switched to Illinois. He redshirted his freshman year due to a foot injury, but left to attend Chipola College in Florida.

Interesting tidbits: Griffin’s brother, A.J., is a freshman basketball player at Duke, and his younger sister, Aubrey Griffin, plays for Connecticut.

Kofi Cockburn (7-0, C, Mouth of Wilson (Va.) Oak Hill Academy); From Kingston, Jamaica, and Middle Village (N.Y.) Christ the King.

Jacob Grandison (6-6, PF, Holy Cross transfer); From Exeter (N.H.) Phillips Exeter Academy and Oakland, Calif.

Austin Hutcherson (6-6, SF, Wesleyan University in Middletown, Conn., transfer); From Princeton (N.J.) The Hun School.

Benjamin Bosmans-Vedonk (6-8, PF, KA Pegasus); From Lommel, Belgium.

Jermaine Hamlin (6-10, C, Lincoln (Ill.) High).

Bernard Kouma (6-10, C, Bronx (N.Y.) Our Saviour Lutheran High). From N’Djamena, Chad in Africa.

Overview: The resurgence of Illinois basketball has been helped by the massive presence of Cockburn, who Rivals.com ranked the No. 45 overall player in the country.

Cockburn has made the most of his two years at Illinois, averaging 15.5 points, 9.1 rebounds and 1.4 blocks per game. He has shot 59.7 percent from the field and 60.6 percent from the line, and was the inside catalyst for Illinois to go 24-7 overall and 16-4 in the Big Ten.

Cockburn was named Big Ten freshman of the year in 2020, and then improved to first-team all-league last year, and consensus second-team All-American. He averaged 17.7 points, 9.5 rebounds and 1.3 blocks per game last year, and shot a blistering 65.4 percent from the field and 55.3 percent at the free-throw line. He led the Big Ten in both rebounds a contest and field-goal percentage and was fifth in points per game.

Cockburn toyed with Illinois fans emotions this offseason, by looking at possibly entering the NBA Draft or transferring to a new college. Neither happened in what easily proved to be the good news from a tumultuous offseason.

The landing of Cockburn made the class successful regardless of the other members, but a pair of transfers have or could be playing key roles.

Grandison played his first two years at Holy Cross before leaving in 2019. He redshirted in 2019-20, and went on to start 16 games in 30 contests played last year. His move into the starting lineup helped give Illinois good chemistry and balance. He averaged 4.6 points, 3.4 rebounds and 1.3 assists per game, and made 52.6 percent of his shots, 41.5 percent on three-pointers and an impressive 22 of 23 at the free-throw line.

Grandison had averaged 13.9 points his sophomore year at Holy Cross. The combo forward chipped in 11.5 points, 4.8 rebounds and 2.5 assists per game, and shot 43.4 percent from the field, 34.6 percent on three-pointers and 77.3 percent at the free-throw line in his two years at Holy Cross.

Hutcherson is the other transfer, but has yet to play for Illinois due to an injury suffered last year. He has developed good buzz going into the 2021-22 season. He averaged 20.0 points, 5.6 rebounds and 3.2 assists his sophomore season at Wesleyan College, and he shot 39.2 percent from three-point land and 88.5 percent at the free-throw line. That followed his freshman year when he chipped in 12.0 points and 3.7 rebounds a contest.

Bosmans-Verdonk has played in 17 games over the last two years, getting a redshirt year in 2019-20. He has 13 points, 13 rebounds and six assists in 74 minutes at Illinois.

Hamlin had 23 points, 16 rebounds and three blocks in 90 minutes of action during his two years at Illinois. The in-state center played in 24 games and elected to transfer after his sophomore season to nearby Eastern Illinois.

Interesting tidbits: Kouma signed with Illinois, but never made it to the college. The big man ended up at South Plains College in Levelland, Texas, and then transferred to Oklahoma State. He had 38 points, 36 rebounds and three blocks in 177 minutes for the Cowboys last year, starting two of 26 games he played in.

Andre Curbelo (6-1, PG, Brookville (N.Y.) Long Island Lutheran High); From Vega Baja, Puerto Rico.

Coleman Hawkins (6-9, PF, Napa (Calif.) Prolific Prep); From Sacramento, Calif.

Brandon Lieb (7-0, C, Deerfield (Ill.) High).

Adam Miller (6-3, SG, Chicago (Ill.) Morgan Park High); From Peoria, Ill.

Overview: The Fighting Illini continued the mini-trend of recruiting in New York due to former assistant coach Orlando Antigua, and landing Curbelo proved to monster addition.

The pass-first savvy point guard was ranked No. 38 overall nationally by Rivals.com. He proved adept whether running the show last year or sharing the backcourt with star guard Ayo Dosunmu. The Big Ten named him the sixth man of the year and to a spot on the all-freshman squad.

Curbelo was sixth in the league in assists per game with 4.2, to go along with averaging 9.1 points and 4.0 rebounds. He shot a rock-steady 49.8 percent from the field, 16.1 percent on three-pointers and 72.8 percent from the free-throw line. He’ll have added responsibility this season and will need to improve on his 5 of 31 three-point shooting.

The three-star Hawkins was ranked No. 142 overall by Rivals.com. He flashed his potential at various points, and chipped in 36 points, 21 rebounds, 11 assists and nine blocks in 25 games played (157 minutes).

The Illini gambled on Lieb’s big upside and locked up the Rivals.com three-star prospect in June 2020. He had four points and six rebounds in 12 minutes played over five games last year, but was able to learn what was physically needed to play in the rigors of the Big Ten.

Miller will prove to be an enigmatic figure in Illinois hoops lore. The Peoria native was a crucial recruiting victory and Rivals.com ranked him No. 34 overall nationally. Miller went on to start all 31 games, averaging 8.3 points and 2.8 rebounds per game. He shot 39.1 percent from the field, 34.0 percent on three-pointers and 68.4 percent from the free-throw line. Miller proved starting on a top five team from his home state wasn’t enough for him, and transferred to LSU.

Interesting tidbits: Curbelo’s father, Joel Curbelo, played basketball at American University and professionally for 18 years. He represented Puerto Rico in the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, Ga. Andre Curbelo was able to represent Puerto Rico at the under-17 level and played in the FIBA World Cup. He earned a spot on the all-tournament team en route to a bronze medal.

Brandin Pdziemski (6-6, SG, Delafield (Wis.) St. John’s Northwestern Academies). From Muskego, Wis.

Ramses “R.J.” Melendez (6-7, SF, Kissimmee (Fla.) Central Pointe Christian Academy; From Arecibo, Puerto Rico.

Luke Goode (6-6, SG, Fort Wayne (Ind.) Homestead High).

Omar Payne (6-10, C, Florida transfer); From Kissimmee, Fla., and Montverde (Fla.) Academy.

Alfonso Plummer (6-1, SG, Utah transfer); From Falardo, Puerto Rico and Arizona Western C.C. in Yuma, Ariz.

Overview: Illinois was in scramble mode last spring and landed two prep players and two transfers during the spring signing period.

Plummer proved to be a reliable scorer for Utah, where he averaged 13.6 points and 2.2 rebounds per game last year. He shot 44.1 percent from the field, 38.3 percent from beyond the arc and an impressive 82.4 percent from the free-throw line in his second year with the Runnin’ Utes.

Plummer started 18 of 51 games he played in at Utah, and shot 45.1 percent from the field, 39.9 percent on three-pointers and 79.6 percent at the free-throw line. He averaged 11.0 points per contest.

Plummer averaged 18.6 points and 3.5 rebounds per game his sophomore year at Arizona Western College. He shot 43.8 percent from three-point land, plus 48.2 percent from the field and 88.8 percent at the free-throw line.

Payne was full of potential coming out of powerful Montverde (Fla.) Academy. Rivals.com ranked him No. 56 overall nationally, but he couldn’t crack the Florida starting lineup on a full-time basis and elected to transfer after his sophomore year.

Payne played in 54 games, starting 15 of them, and averaged 3.8 points, 3.4 rebounds and an impressive 1.2 blocks in 15.4 minutes per game during his two years in Gainesville, Fla. He ranked 10th in the SEC both years in blocks per game, and shot 75 percent from the field his sophomore year.

Podziemski enjoyed a monster senior year en route to winning Mr. Basketball in Wisconsin. He averaged 35.1 points, 10.0 rebounds, 5.6 assists and 4.0 steals per game last year, and shot an impressive 43.4 percent from three-point land. Rivals.com ranked him No. 62 overall nationally and he became the first player in Wisconsin prep history to surpass over 2,000 points. The four-star prospect picked Illinois over Kentucky, Miami (Fla.), Vanderbilt and Wake Forest.

Goode was the first commit to the class, popping for the Fighting Illini on April 17, 2020, over offers from Butler, Iowa, Maryland, Northwestern, Stanford and Xavier. Rivals.com ranked him the No. 110 overall player in the country in the class of 2021. He is part of a short list of players from Indiana who have signed with Illinois over the last 40 years. Goode averaged 19.4 points, 8.3 rebounds and 5.0 assists per game his senior at Homestead High.

Melendez averaged 24.3 points, 6.1 rebounds, 3.4 assists, 2.2 steals and 2.3 blocks his senior year at Central Pointe Christian Academy. He chose Illinois over Oklahoma State, Ole Miss and Florida among others.

Interesting tidbits: Plummer’s father, Renan Plummer, played professional basketball in Panama … The 6-10 Payne has a reported 7-5 1/2 wingspan.

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