Illini land frontcourt piece

CHAMPAIGN — Brad Underwood laid forth a fairly clear directive after announcing five more members of Illinois' 2018 recruiting class in mid-April.

Even after landing Samba Kane and Giorgi Bezhanishvili, another frontcourt player was still at the top of his list.

Armed with one open scholarship then — a number that grew to three when both Matic Vesel and Greg Eboigbodin opted to leave the program in May and June, respectively — Underwood continued his hunt for another big man.

"In a perfect world, I'd love another frontcourt guy," Underwood said at the time. "We'd love a frontcourt piece that fits and can score and do some of the same things that we need to be successful. We'll continue to…