Fab five: Incoming Illini freshmen to know | Sports

Destiny Jackson

Jackson’s arrival in C-U comes during a period of transition for the Illinois women’s basketball team. Shauna Green racked up 63 wins, two NCAA tournament appearances and a WBIT title the last three seasons with essentially the same team. That experienced group is gone and the door is open for Jackson to be next in line as a centerpiece for the Illini.

Hayden Jones

Jones is the marquee player in Illinois men’s tennis coach Brad Dancer’s latest recruiting haul. The Gold Coast, Australia, native has been ranked as high as the No. 8 junior in the world and headlines a class that ranks second nationally behind Vanderbilt, per Tennis Recruiting Network. Jones played in the Australian Open the past two years as a wild-card entry.

Luuk Pelkmans

The 6-foot-8 Pelkmans is one of the top heptathletes and decathletes in the world at his age group. The 18-year-old won the Netherlands U20 national championship in the decathlon earlier this month with a score of 8,016. A personal best that would have won him the Big Ten outdoor championship title this year by nearly 500 points and qualified him for the NCAA outdoor championship.

Gabriella Pitcel

Pitcel doesn’t have a clear path to playing time this fall with the return of Ashlyn Philpot, Cari Bohm and Kayla Burbage, but the 6-1 freshman middle blocker could still be an option for Illinois volleyball coach Chris Tamas. Pitcel set the career kills and blocks record at Mukwonago (Wis.) as a junior and a year later finished with 1,529 kills and 235 blocks as a four-year letterwinner.

Brayden Trimble

Trimble enrolled early and participated in spring practices. That’s where the 6-1, 175-pound wide receiver from Mt. Zion staked his claim as a legitimate option in what could be a wide-open competition for playing time following the departure of Pat Bryant and Zakhari Franklin. The way the Illini coaching staff discussed Trimble this spring, he should be in the mix this fall.