Richmond's signing a coup for Weber

Jereme Richmond is set to begin his senior season at Waukegan.
(Tom Cruze/Sun-Times)

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At 10:42 a.m. on Wednesday, Waukegan senior Jereme Richmond faxed a signed letter of intent to Illinois.

That might seem like a small administrative matter, but to Illinois coach Bruce Weber and his staff the letter signifies an official end to doubts about their recruiting abilities and the vindication of a strategy they implemented three years ago to start pursuing prospects as early as junior high.

Three years ago when Richmond, then a freshman at North Shore Country Day, gave an oral commitment to Illinois, Weber and his staff were reeling.

Illinois had lost out on a laundry list of top in-state recruits and the opinion that Weber couldn’t recruit was starting to gain serious traction throughout the state.

Richmond’s commitment led to an ultra-successful recruiting run that has silenced those critics, and after signing on Wednesday, Richmond addressed his future coach’s detractors.

“Saying that (Weber) can’t recruit is just false,” Richmond said. “The fact is, he’s not going to break the rules. Sometimes that means you have to sacrifice and not get some talented players.”

Weber secured Richmond’s commitment after his first high school game. Never before had Illinois received a commitment from a player so young.

On the heels of the Eric Gordon debacle, many Illinois fans were worried that Weber would have trouble holding on to Richmond during the three-year and three-week wait before he could sign.

Things didn’t always go smoothly. Richmond admits that he had flirtations with other schools.

“It was never really that I wanted to go somewhere else,” Richmond said. “I just wanted to see what other schools thought of me, who was interested. Just to find out if I really was considered one of the best players in the country. That’s all it was.”

Richmond, a 6-7 forward, is the star of a three-recruit class that is ranked in the top 10 by most recruiting services.

Crandall Head, a 6-4 forward from Rich South and Meyers Leonard, a 7-0 center from Robinson, round out the class.

“With Richmond and Leonard, Illinois clearly got the top two players in the state of Illinois,” recruiting analyst Joe Henricksen said. “I can’t remember the last time that happened.”

Leonard was a national unknown when he committed, but vaulted into the national top 50 this summer.

“He’s not your typical southern Illinois player,” Henricksen said. “He has a toughness and a swagger and a little bit of an edge to him. He’s extremely skilled, very agile and coordinated. It’s so hard to find a big man with that skill set.”

Head, the brother of current NBA player and former Illini star Luther Head, is expected to miss most of this season after having knee surgery in September.

“I think I could come back, but I don’t think I will,” Head said. “I think I’ll wait it out until college.”

Expectations will be sky-high for the class when they arrive on campus.

“I’m not worried about living up to the expectations at all,” Richmond said. “It’s basketball. I know that if I do what is necessary on the court that we will have a very successful run.”

Three of the top girls basketball players signed Wednesday as well. Fenwick’s 6-0 forward Tricia Liston signed with Duke, which has the top-rated recruiting class in the country.

Hinsdale Central point guard Toni Kokenis signed with Stanford and Montini’s Michala Johnson signed with NCAA champion Connecticut.