By Kedric Prince – IlliniGuys.com Director of Recruiting

Courtesy Endless Motor Sports

May 23, 2021

Combo guard MJ Collins, a 6-foot-2, 175-pound combo guard in the class of 2022 from Rock Hill, South Carolina, recently picked up offers from Clemson and Xavier. Illinois should be next in line.

Illinois assistant coach Chester Frazier is working overtime, keeping up with recruits offered by the previous staff and has a few up his sleeve from his time at Virginia Tech who appear interested in following Frazier to Illinois.

"I have 14 offers. Illinois should be offering soon, from what I hear. Coach Frazier and I talked; he offered me when he was coaching at Virginia Tech," Collins said.

Collins is a tremendous shooter who has flown under the radar with the big schools. He is able to play the one and two, but with his size at 6-foot-2, he is probably more suited for the point guard at the next level.

"I trust Coach Frazier; he's my dude, he's a great guy; he keeps it real with me. He told me he wanted a chance to coach me because I'm his type of player. What's unique about Coach is it's not all basketball with him," Collins said.

The recruiting trend following Frazier is that his sales pitch is not just about basketball; it is life in college and after basketball. Most parents love that about Frazier; basketball does not last forever.

"He tries to get to know you as a person. We talk about everything in life," he said.

Collins is very confident in his skills and what he can offer a Division I program.

"I'm very skilled on offense, I'm a scorer, I can shoot it extremely well, I can score from anywhere on the court. Getting to the rim or pulling up, I worked hard on my game to score in multiple ways. I'm also a great defender. I love to compete on the defensive end of the court," Collins said.

No one is perfect; there are some parts of his game that he knows he must improve or tighten up, Collins told IlliniGuys.com.

"I need to improve my ball handling, my lateral quickness, and get stronger, but that will come with age and a great weight program at college," he said.

Frazier is earning every dime of his new salary that is expected to be soon be approved by the board.  During an earlier press conference, Frazier said he is a well-rounded recruiter who looks for players and not just those who are ranked in the top 100. Those kids are good, but not everyone can make that list. Too many good players are out there and, as someone who has won at every stop, his track record speaks for itself.

Please follow me on Twitter @KedPrince4.

PrinceKedric@yahoo.com