Not sure about that. Richmond was a four star who ended up ranked below Meyers Leonard in that class. Plus, by the time he arrived the luster had been off for awhile due to his off the court issues in high school. He also was not popular with other high school kids so he wasn't going to influence others to come with him.
Tilmon is a five star at a more important position. He also is fervent about state loyalty and may be a magnet for other top players like Goodwin. He also committed at a time when the program needed something good to happen. With Richmond, we had just gotten Mr. Basketball in the state the year before, too. (Brandon Paul). Paul was ranked almost as high as Richmond by the time the signed.
Got to go with Tilmon as a more important recruit than Richmond.
Oh yes, sorry! Tilmon is likely more impactful than Richmond. I just meant that since Dee, I think Richmond had as large or larger impact
at the time of his recruitment and prior to him suiting up.
As far as influencing others, I won't definitively disagree with you since that is difficult to judge. However, in each of the following recruitments, once they committed, each cited playing with a talent like Richmond as an important factor in them coming here. Brandon Paul, DJ Richardson, Meyers Leonard and Tyler Griffey. Possibly Crandall Head as well, although I don't remember seeing a statement from him. The others all said it when interviewed. (I don't have links to show unfortunately)
Difficult to assess in reality what kind or how much impact he had in influencing them, but I assume a great deal. So he got the ball rolling in a big way with BW's best recruiting classes while at Illinois.
Completely agree with his impact as a
player after coming to Illinois unfortunately. I give him a lot of credit for helping our program when we were in a recruiting slump thanks to his early commitment. But I also give him complete blame for the life choices he made and his actions since. He alone is at fault.