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Mike LaTulip “officially” joins Illini

From the SID:

LaTulip Joins Illini Prospect’s all-time leading scorer to walk on at Illinois

Champaign, Ill.­–Illinois head coach John Groce announced on Monday that Mike LaTulip will join the FightingIllini program as a preferred walk-on.

LaTulip attends Prospect High School under the direction of coach John Camardella. He also is a member of the Full Package AAU team coached by Louis Walker. The 6-0, 165-pound guard averaged 22.0 points, 4.0 assists and 2.7 rebounds during his senior season, leading Prospect to a record of 17-9 and 7-3 in the Mid-Suburban League’s East Division. He made 75 three-pointers on the year while shooting 38.5 percent from behind the arc.

LaTulip became Prospect’s all-time scoring leader on Feb. 3 and totaled 1,484 points during his high school career. He scored a career-high 44 points in a victory win over Buffalo Grove on Feb. 10, hitting seven 3-pointers. LaTulip was a second-team All-State selection by the Champaign-Urbana News-Gazette,third-team All-State by the Illinois Basketball Coaches Association, honorable mention All-State by the Associated Press and All-Area by the Daily Herald and ESPNChicago.com.

“We are pleased that Mike will attend the University of Illinois and join our basketball team,” Groce said. “He is a prolific scorer and without question one of the best shooters in the state of Illinois. He turned down many scholarship opportunities to walk-on here, so we feel fortunate to add a player of Mike’s caliber to our program.”

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