Illinois Basketball: A thank you to the Illini players who are leaving the program

Alfonso Plummer

I have been impressed by the Illinois basketball coaching staff’s ability to bring in transfers and have them gel immediately with the main players on the team.

Jacob Grandison was easily one of the best transfers we have ever had, but Illinois was able to also bring in Alfonso Plummer. He joined the Illini for one season after starting his career with Utah.

You could see that Plummer could play basketball. He shot 38.3% from three-point range in his final season with the Utes, so I expected something like that in his lone season with the Illini. In the end, he gave us more than I expected.

Plummer would finish his Illinois career averaging 14.6 points, 2.5 rebounds, and 1.1 assists per game while hitting 40.8% of his three-point shots. When he got going, Plummer would be one of the most dangerous players in college basketball.

I would make an argument that if Plummer didn’t start knocking down shots in the second half against Chattanooga, then Illinois would have dropped that game. This kid was electric.

If I was comparing all-time Illinois three-point shooters, I would argue Plummer goes down as one of the best, if not the best, in the history of the program. He was a special player for this program. Illinois made it to the Round of 32 and was able to win the Big Ten regular season. Plummer helped lead us to these great achievements. Thank you for everything, Alfonso. You will be missed dearly. Your three-point shooting and bounce are something I probably won’t see again.