With so many question marks looming after the season, the Illinois basketball team is looking to add at least two more players to the mix.
The Illini have two committed players for the class of 2021 in Luke Goode and RJ Melendez. They are both wing players who can get buckets. But this also leaves two available scholarships for Illinois to fill if both Ayo Dosunmu and Kofi Cockburn head to the NBA after the current campaign.
Back on January 7, a new option became available in the transfer market. That option was Nimari Burnett.
Burnett and Texas Tech parted ways because it just wasn’t what the young five-star recruit was looking for in a program. He is now on the move and since he entered the transfer portal, teams have been in constant contact with the former Chicago superstar.
Illinois was one of the many schools to reach out to Burnett. With so many schools wanting the talented guard, who was going to emerge as a serious contender? That question seems to be kind of getting answered.
Jake Weingarten of Stockrisers posted on his Twitter account that Burnett is planning on possibly choosing a school in April. He goes on to mention that the teams who are after the transfer the most include Oregon, Vanderbilt, USC, Alabama and Illinois.
Texas Tech transfer Nimari Burnett tells @Stockrisers that he's planned on possibly choosing a school in April. Illinois, Alabama, USC, Vanderbilt, and Oregon amongst those heavily in pursuit of the former McDonald's All-American. https://t.co/hKEFlV8vQc
— Jake (@jakeweingarten) February 18, 2021
What does this mean for the Illinois basketball program?
Honestly, I was expecting Illinois to be one of the top teams vying for Burnett’s services. He is from Chicago and transferred out to California to finish up his high school career. There is a strong connection to the state of Illinois.
It also helps that Illinois has their stuff together this time around. When Burnett was first being recruited, the Illini were finishing under .500 for the most part. This past season, they had some success but he had already committed before seeing what the program could do.
Now Illinois is one of the top teams in the country. They can show Burnett that things are working in Champaign. They can also point to Ayo Dosunmu to see how a talented guard from Chicago can progress into one of the top players in the country.
Will Illinois land Burnett? That is still up in the air. I believe we have as good of a chance as any team right now. With the addition of the superstar guard, I think this Illini team has a chance to head back to the Big Dance on a yearly basis.