CBS Sports: John Groce has coached a grant total of one game at Illinois, but he has already made quite an impact on the basketball program.

On Monday afternoon, he picked up a commitment from top-100 big man Austin Colbert.

“I decided to pick Illinois because I just want it to be the best fit for me,” Colbert said on SNY. “I feel like coach John Groce is going to develop me into a person, develop me into a player and push me every day in practice. Not only does basketball have a big value for me, but academics as well.”

Colbert is ranked No. 96 in the class of 2013 at CBSSports.com. He's a 6-foot-9 power forward from Gill St. Bernard's (N.J.) and chose the Fighting Illini over Villanova and Miami. For a long time, it looked like Miami and Nova held the edge, but Illinois made up a lot of ground on Colbert's official visit.

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