Badger of Honor
Fansided

Full Breakdown of Each Member of the 2015 Recruiting Class

By Rayan Vatti

facebooktwitterreddit
Prev
3 of 7
Next

Alex Illikainen

Position: PF

Height and Weight: 6 foot 9, 225 pounds

Recruiting Stars: 3 (247 Sports), 4 (ESPN), 3 (Yahoo Sports!)

National Rankings: #147 (247 Sports), #146 (Yahoo Sports!)

Other Notable Offers: Iowa, Iowa State, Maryland, Providence, Oregon, Indiana, California, Minnesota, Boston College, Northern Iowa

More from Basketball Recruiting

Strengths

  • Good 3-point shooter
  • Good footwork in the post
  • Good touch around the rim
  • Athletic enough to play above the rim
  • Comfortable driving and handling
  • Good Frame
  • Seems College Ready

Weaknesses

  • I can’t really find any true weaknesses in Illikainen’s game. I mean he’s not overly fast or athletic, but what power forward is? He’s not amazing in any one area, but he doesn’t have any true weaknesses. He’s just an all-around good player.

2015-2016 Outlook: This is the recruit I’m most excited about. Watching his highlights, I realized how vastly underrated he is. The analysts really missed the mark on him. He really has no flaws to his game. Like Pritzl, I think he’ll play and contribute right away. If he is capable defensively, he even has a shot to earn a starting spot over Vitto Brown. He certainly has the skills.

Long Term Outlook: This is a future All-American. I’m telling you right now, this kid is going to be something special. His arsenal of skills is already at the level of some pros. He has the potential to be an 18 and 10 player. This Bo Ryan system fits him perfectly, and he’s going to thrive in it.

Player Comparison: If Jon Leuer were two inches shorter, he would be Alex Illikainen. It’s as simple as that. Illikainen may be slightly more athletic, but other than that, it’s a perfect match.

Next: Charlie Thomas