Illini prospect commits to Kansas

Junior college basketball guard Mario Little, who made an official visit to Illinois in late September, gave a verbal commitment Sunday to play at Kansas.

<p class="MsoNormal">Little is a 6-foot-5 sophomore wing from Chicago who is a sophomore at Chipola Junior College in Florida. He had narrowed his choices to Illinois, Kansas and Kansas State.

<p class="MsoNormal">Chipola finished as the NJCAA national runner-up last season. A product of Chicago Washington High School., Little averaged 10 points and six rebounds as the Chipola sixth man. Little is a preseason third-team All-America for Chipola.

<p class="MsoNormal">While Kansas worked to land a player who can help restock a roster in transition, the Illini still don't have a commitment from the class of 2008.

<p class="MsoNormal">The Illini especially need scoring help at guard, and Little was seen as an immediate contributor if he had chosen the Illini.

<p class="MsoNormal">Illinois hosted Chicago Simeon senior forward Stan Simpson on an official visit over the weekend.

<p class="MsoNormal">John Supinie can be reached at Johnsupinie@aol.com.

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