Illinois basketball coach Bruce Weber hosted a big recruiting weekend on campus for homecoming.

It was made bigger when he received a verbal commitment from 6-foot-9 Nnanna Egwu of St. Ignatius College Prep School in Chicago.

Igwu picked the Illini over Purdue. He'll be a member of the Class of 2011 that also includes Tracy Abrams, a guard from Chicago Mount Carmel.

Egwu, who family moved from Nigeria when he was 5 years old, began playing basketball just three years ago.

He had eight scholarship offers and is ranked 48th nationally in the class of 2011 by Rivals.com, a rating he earned during his breakout sophomore season at Ignatius and with the Illinois Wolves club team this summer.

Egwu joins Mount Carmel guard Tracy Abrams in Illinois' 2011 recruiting class.

"I would have loved to play for Purdue, but from an overall standpoint, I thought going to Illinois would make me the best I could be," Egwu told the Chicago Tribune. "To play for your own state school, there's nothing better than that -to bring your own state a championship."

Among Weber's guests making officials visits Saturday were Jereme Richmond of Waukegan, Meyers Leonard of Robinson and Crandall Head of Crane. Head was on crutches after having two surgeries on his knee, which he injured over the summer.