Quentin Snider announced Thursday night that he will attend Illinois, choosing the Illini over UCLA.
“I chose Illinois because it was the perfect fit for me,” Snider told SNY.tv. “I love the style of play, get up and down the court and run pick-and-rolls. And the thing about Coach [John] Groce, he’s a good guy to be around. Great family guy and they will use me as a point guard.”
The 6-foot-2, 170-pound former Louisville commit has ties to Illinois, having known guard Aaron Cosby, a fellow Louisville native, since their younger days.
“Basically he’s the one who turned me on to Groce,” Snider said.
“I’ve known Quentin since he was in middle school,” Cosby told SNY.tv. “We would workout and hoop together in the summers back when I was at prep and Seton Hall and he was committed to Louisville. Our dads are pretty cool, too.”
Snider visited Illinois this past weekend and then had a home visit Monday night with Coach Groce that went well.
“I think he’s more of a dual guard,” New York recruiting expert Tom Konchalski told SNY.tv. “He can shoot, he can score, he can handle the ball somewhat. He does a lot of different things. He’s very versatile. His size at 6-2 dictates he’ll probably become more of a lead guard. But good player, good player.”
Snider joins 6-7 Memphis power forward Leron Black and 6-9 power forward Michael Finke in Groce’s 2014 recruiting class.
Snider had visited UCLA the weekend before and enjoyed that, following that up with a home visit with UCLA head coach Steve Alford this week.
He admitted he was close to committing to UCLA.
“Yes,” he said.
UCLA has now missed out on three point guards in 2014 in Josh Perkins (Gonzaga), Jordan McLaughlin (USC) and Snider.
Snider had originally planned to visit Michigan State this weekend and UConn the following weekend, but those won’t be necessary.
