Big Ten Roundup (Oct. 5): Illinois Basketball Lands 2024 3-Star, Wisconsin LB Talks Playing Time

Coach Brad Underwood and the Illinois Fighting Illini landed a commitment from 2024 three-star guard Jase Butler on Wednesday, while Wisconsin linebacker Maema Njongmeta talked to media about why he only played one snap in the Badgers' Week 4 win over Purdue.

BLOOMINGTON, Ind — Despite coach Mike Woodson and the Indiana Hoosiers dominating most of the college basketball recruiting headlines on Wednesday, it was Brad Underwood and Illinois who earned the commitment of a 2024 prospect.

Jase Butler, a three-star guard from from The Branson School in San Francisco, Calif., committed to the Illinois men's basketball team on Wednesday.

In football news, Wisconsin linebacker and team captain Maema Njongmeta spoke to media about his lack of playing time in the Badgers' 38-17 win over Purdue. Njongmeta only played one snap in the game after playing 181 snaps total through the first three weeks of the season.

Here's everything you need to know in today's Big Ten Roundup:

Jase Butler Commits to Illinois

Don't look now, but with the commitment from Butler on Wednesday, Underwood's 2024 class out in Urbana-Champaign is now ranked No. 10 in the country, according to 247 Sports. 

NEWS: Jase Butler, the No. 189 overall recruit in the country, has committed to Illinois, he tells @247Sports.

Story: https://t.co/rM8j1wMCSB pic.twitter.com/4uSVOoWhmt

— Travis Branham (@TravisBranham_) October 4, 2023

Illinois had already locked up commitments from 2024 three-star Jason Jakstys and four-star Morez Johnson, both in-state recruits. The 6-foot-4, 180-pound Butler comes from the West Coast as a guard to pair with the two talented forwards. 

“I’ve built great relationships with the coaching staff, and I feel like it’ll be the best spot to help me achieve my goals,” Butler told Travis Branham of 247 Sports. “The winning history that the program and coach Underwood has, it really stuck out to me.”

According to a source with Nike EYBL data, Butler averaged 10.8 points, 3.5 assists and 2.8 rebounds across four games with the Oakland Soldiers 16U team in 2022.  

Njongmeta on Lack of Playing Time vs Purdue

Against Buffalo, Washington State and Georgia Southern, Njongmeta played 56, 60 and 65 snaps, respectively, for the Wisconsin Badgers, according to Pro Football Focus. 

However, in the their first Big Ten win of the 2023 season, the star linebacker only saw the field once for the Badgers. 

This obviously sparked a number of questions for coach Luke Fickell throughout the week. Wisconsin fans wanted to know if Njongmeta was injured or had violated a rule of sorts, as there seemed to be little explanation as to why he would ever get benched.

But on Wednesday, the linebacker spoke to media, and said that his benching was due to the matchup against Purdue, and the team's strategic rotation.

“We had a plan going in for the game,” Njongmeta told media, “and there had been talks about a rotation and kind of as the game went on, it turned into more of a space game, and coach and I kind of talked and he was like, ‘all right, I want to keep [Jake] Chaney out there for now.’”

Like a team captain would, Njongmeta appeared perfectly content with the decision, and supportive of his teammate who was thrust into a bigger role. 

“That’s my boy over there,” Njongmeta said, speaking on Chaney. “But, I was part of it the whole way, even though people didn’t necessarily see me out there.”

“We have a team dedicated to making sure that this program is the best place possible moving forward. And so they’re going to make the decisions for that. And as a player, as captain, my role is to embrace those decisions, be there for those guys, and embrace my role, be the best at it, no matter what that role is on that given day. I’m happy to do that, whatever that looks like.”

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