DePaul offers 2019 four-star Francis Okoro, the top player in Illinois

Thursday was a busy day for Big East recruiting, as our homepage will tell you.

It doesn’t look like Friday’s going to be a day off, either!

DePaul has gone and offered the class of 2019’s top player in the state of Illinois. That being Francis Okoro, a 6-foot-9, 225-pound power forward hailing from Normal who currently attends Normal Community West High School.

The news of Okoro’s offer from the Blue Demons was first reported by Scott Burgess.

Okoro rates higher than the likes of Chicago Academy’s Markese Jacobs (a Kansas commit), St. Joseph High School’s Marquise Walker, Belleville West’s E.J. Liddell and New Trier’s Ciaran Brayboy as far as Illinois recruits go in 2019 to this point. Okoro also ranks fourth among power forwards, with five-stars Vernon Carey, Charles Bassey and James Wiseman listed ahead of him. That’s not terrible company to be in, especially Carey’s, as the Fort Lauderdale big man is the second-best player in the entire country.

Francis Okoro is also a Top 25 recruit overall, listed at 23rd right now via 247Sports Composite’s rankings.

Unsurprisingly, DePaul is one of many teams that have gotten into the pursuit of Francis Okoro. Joining DePaul as of now are Saint Louis, Purdue, Oakland, Texas Southern and Western Kentucky. Tennessee, Vanderbilt, Virginia Tech, Alabama and Illinois also are jostling for position in their attempt to land Okoro, too. It’s safe to say DePaul may have their hands full, but if recent recruiting wins have any indication, don’t sell them too shortly, either.