Illinois Basketball: Illini land in top 5 for top transfer shooting guard

With at least one scholarship still left on the table, Illinois basketball is looking to add more firepower to the program.

One route they could go is former Utah Utes guard, Alfonso Plummer. Plummer was a 6-foot-1, 175-pound shooting guard when he entered the junior college ranks with Arizona Western College. He performed so well on the JUCO level, Utah decided to give him a shot and added him to the roster for the 2019-20 campaign.

Now after two seasons with the Utes, the senior is looking for a new home to play his final season of basketball. Who will end up landing the talented guard from Puerto Rico? Well, on Thursday, Plummer announced that he will make a decision on his landing spot this Saturday. The teams he will be choosing from include Florida, Georgia, Texas Tech, BYU and Illinois.

The announcement that Plummer included Illinois in the mix for his decision is a big deal. Plummer is one of the most wanted transfer targets on the market, and he would help give the Illini another weapon for the upcoming season.

What would Plummer bring to the Illinois basketball program?

Plummer has put up big numbers wherever he was playing. In his final season with Arizona Western, he put up 18.6 points and 3.5 rebounds per game. He then parlayed that into two good seasons with Utah. In 2019-20, Plummer averaged 8.5 points and 1.1 rebounds per game. This past season, he averaged 13.6 points and 2.2 rebounds per game.

Those aren’t the numbers that impress me the most, though. I would look at Plummer’s three-point shooting ability to see why he would be a great addition to the Orange and Blue.

Plummer was hitting 43.8-percent of his three-pointers while taking 8.5 three-point shots per game in the final season at the JUCO level. He hit 42-percent of his three-point shots and took 4.6 three-pointers per game as a junior at Utah. Plummer then followed that up last season hitting 38.3-percent of his three-pointers while taking 6.7 three-point shots.

Illinois’ need for Plummer to join the roster is there. He would come in and, most likely, start from day one. The ties to Andre Curbelo are also there. Both are sensational guards who hail from Puerto Rico.

This is a big top five to make for the Illinois basketball team. If we can land Plummer this weekend, then the roster would be almost complete for the upcoming 2021-22 campaign.