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

5. Antonio Reeves (2 years of eligibility)

• Reasoning

Illinois basketball’s relationship with Simeon High School out of Chicago hasn’t been great in recent years. There used to be a pipeline to that program, but that has dried up. But landing transfer Antonio Reeves might help the situation.

Reeves wasn’t rated coming out of Simeon, so he ended up going to Illinois State. In three years with the Redbirds, Reeves developed his game to a point where he is one of the most wanted transfers in the country. This past season, he ended up averaging 20.1 points, 3.5 rebounds, 1.8 assists, and 1.1 steals per game.

A huge intriguing point for me is the fact Reeves can shoot from distance. He was putting up 5.9 three-pointers per game in 2021-22 and was hitting them at a clip of 39%. Inject that in my veins all day long.

Reestablishing a pipeline to Simeon and having a productive guard who can put up numbers, those are two big selling points for me on Reeves.

• Where he would play

Reeves is a shooting guard in the truest form. He is a player who is here to score the basketball, and he does that at a high clip.

Illinois’ frontcourt is a little full at the moment, but Reeves could come in and compete for a starting job from day one. The No. 2 and No. 3 guard spots are open, so he could win one of those. At worst, he could come in and get 20 or more minutes as a primary backup to those two spots.