Illinois added their second Chicago Simeon player to their 2013 recruiting class with point guard Jaylon Tate.

Illinois fills a much needed position by adding Tate at point guard. They missed out on two 5-star point guards in Tyler Ennis (Syracuse) and Demetrius Jackson (Notre Dame) recently and were looking at Tate and Dayshon Smith. Tate obviously pulled the trigger first and gives Illinois a serviceable point guard for 2013.

Tate is a 6’2″ 165 lb. point guard out of Chicago Simeon. Tate was originally at De La Salle before transferring to Simeon. He had offers from Northwestern, Providence and Xavier.

Getting the second player out of Simeon this class is huge for John Groce. Simeon and Illinois used to go hand in hand back in the 80’s and early 90’s with players like Nick Anderson, Kevin Turner, Deon Thomas and others. #25 has always been worn by a Simeon player at Illinois in honor of the late Ben Wilson, the #1 high school player in the 80’s who was tragically killed. Most say Wilson would have ended up at Illinois. With Kendrick Nunn and Tate in the fold the Simeon pipeline looks like it is restored.