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Illinois Basketball: 5 options for the Illini in the transfer portal 1.0

By Rees Woodcock

PITTSBURGH, PENNSYLVANIA - MARCH 20: Head coach Brad Underwood of the Illinois Fighting Illini draws a play in the first half of the game against the Houston Cougars during the second round of the 2022 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament at PPG PAINTS Arena on March 20, 2022 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Kirk Irwin/Getty Images)
PITTSBURGH, PENNSYLVANIA - MARCH 20: Head coach Brad Underwood of the Illinois Fighting Illini draws a play in the first half of the game against the Houston Cougars during the second round of the 2022 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament at PPG PAINTS Arena on March 20, 2022 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Kirk Irwin/Getty Images) /
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BATON ROUGE, LOUISIANA – FEBRUARY 26: Trevon Brazile #23 of the Missouri Tigers reacts against the LSU Tigers during a game at the Pete Maravich Assembly Center on February 26, 2022 in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. (Photo by Jonathan Bachman/Getty Images)
BATON ROUGE, LOUISIANA – FEBRUARY 26: Trevon Brazile #23 of the Missouri Tigers reacts against the LSU Tigers during a game at the Pete Maravich Assembly Center on February 26, 2022 in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. (Photo by Jonathan Bachman/Getty Images) /

2. Trevon Brazile (3 years of eligibility)

  • Reasoning

There are plenty of transfers out there in the portal, but there are only a few handfuls that I believe could help the Illinois basketball team next season. I think Trevon Brazile is one of those transfers.

It is being reported that Illinois is one of the programs that has already been in contact with Brazile about potentially coming to Champaign. That is encouraging news if you are an Illini fan.

Brazile ended up only spending one season with the Missouri Tigers. He averaged 6.6 points, 5.1 rebounds, and 1.9 blocks per game while shooting 53.4% from the field, 33.3% from three-point range, and 62% from the charity stripe.

Missouri went through a coaching change, so Brazile is now in the portal. With his 6-foot-9, 215-pound size, he would give Illinois more options. We would have an extremely athletic frontcourt that would give opposing teams matchup nightmares.

  • Where he would play

It is a toss-up at this point. If we don’t have a suitable big man, I wouldn’t mind putting Brazile at the No. 5 spot and have Coleman Hawkins at the No. 4 spot. They would be interchangeable. Illinois would have two 6-foot-9 or bigger players who both have 7-foot wingspans. That would be amazing.

Brazile would make Illinois bigger and more athletic. If we did land another big man or if Dain Dainja forms into a starting No. 5, then Brazile would bounce back and forth getting minutes at either the No. 4 or No. 5 depending on who needs a rest. He would get plenty of minutes.

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