It looks like the Illinois basketball team has interest in another graduate transfer who just recently announced he will be looking for a new home.
It was first reported by Evan Daniels of 247Sports that Pat Andree has decided to graduate and transfer from Lehigh University. This puts another big-time player on the market for programs to pursue who need someone to fill a role on the team.
Andree is a 6-foot-8, 225-pound forward from Lehigh University. His career with the Mountain Hawks has really started to blossom. During his freshman season, Andree averaged 6.5 points and 3.9 rebounds per game. He bumped that number up to 12.6 points and 4.9 rebounds per game during his sophomore season.
During Andree’s final campaign with Lehigh, he averaged 12.9 points, 6.2 rebounds and 1.7 assists per game. That was this past season with a Lehigh team that finished 20-11 overall and 12-6 in the Patriot Conference. Now he is looking for a new home.
Pat Andree has already heard from Northwestern, Illinois, Santa Barbara, Seton Hall, Xavier, Grand Canyon, Charlotte, Sienna, Fordham & Vanderbilt. https://t.co/embDAstrfp
— Evan Daniels (@EvanDaniels) March 19, 2019
Honestly, Andree wouldn’t have caught my eye if it wasn’t for Daniels reporting that he has quite a few programs already calling. It looks like Illinois is one of the teams interested in Andree, according to Daniels. The other teams pursuing him are Santa Barbara, Seton Hall, Xavier, Grand Canyon, Sienna, Charlotte, Vanderbilt, Fordham and Northwestern.
This would be an interesting addition to the Illinois basketball team. I would assume Andree would come in and play at the No. 4 spot next season. This is one area that I feel most comfortable with moving forward.
With Kofi Cockburn coming in, I believe he will start at the No. 5 for the Illini. This will enable Giorgi Bezhanishvili to move to the No. 4 spot. Giorgi is only going to be a sophomore as well. I would love Andree to come in and be a primary backup for Giorgi. That would be optimal.
I am excited that Illinois is going after some talented graduate transfers. I think Andree could help this team as a primary backup to Giorgi. This would enable the Illini to not miss too much when Giorgi goes to the bench. I would like this move.