Illinois Basketball: Anthony Higgs announces transfer from Illini

Another domino has fallen when it comes to the Illinois basketball roster for next season.

On Tuesday afternoon, Anthony Higgs announced on Twitter that he has decided to transfer away from the Illinois program. He explains in the series of tweets that he learned a tremendous amount and became a better person while at Illinois. He also says this move this is a move that is best for him and the University.

Coming out of high school, Higgs was a 6-foot-8, 200-pound small forward from Perry Hall High School in Baltimore, Maryland. He was rated as a three-star recruit who was the No. 390 player in the class of 2018 and the No. 88 small forward in the nation. He was also the No. 13 player in the state of Maryland as well.

There were some people who expected Higgs to come in and contribute right away. We all know how much we could have used more size last season. But Higgs ended up going down with an injury during his freshman campaign which enabled him to take a redshirt. He was going to be a solid role player for the Illini this upcoming season as well.

Illinois is now a big man down, but I don’t think this was unexpected. For a while, Illinois didn’t have a scholarship open but they were still pursuing graduate transfers and recruits for 2019. This was a sign to me that they knew things were going down but it was a matter of who was going to leave the program.

Antwan January was the first one to change his mind. He backed out of his commitment a few weeks ago and is now committed to New Mexico. Higgs is the next man up with his announcement of a transfer on Tuesday. Illinois has replaced one of the two with Bernard Kouma who committed back on April 8. He should serve as a solid big man for the Illini.

I think the transfer of Higgs is actually okay news for the Orange and Blue. I never like to see players transfer, but this does open the door for an experienced graduate transfer to come in and play right away.

Higgs will be missed. I hope nothing but the best for the kid wherever he ends up. But Illinois should be okay without him. Depth is building in the paint and another scholarship opens up another opportunity.