Illinois Basketball: Illini guard Brandin Podziemski is transferring

The Illinois basketball team lost another member of the family on Tuesday night.

Entering Tuesday, the Illini had only lost two players in Andre Curbelo and Omar Payne. Both departures will hurt the team next season, but if we could have held the transfers to just two, then the coaching staff would have done an impressive job. Sadly, we can add another transfer to that list.

Soon-to-be sophomore, Brandin Podziemski decided to take his talents elsewhere. He took to Twitter to announce the news that he was transferring away from the Illinois program. This is a loss that I didn’t want this offseason. Podziemski was a foundation builder, and it makes me sad to see him go.

Brandin Podziemski transfer opens up another scholarship for the Illinois basketball team.

I truly thought Podziemski had the chance to be a special player with the Illini. He had the drive and work ethic to develop into one of the best guards on the team.

But we will never get to see him develop with the Orange and Blue. I don’t blame him one bit for transferring either. Brad Underwood was bringing in talent and looking for players via the transfer portal who play the same position as Podziemski. The writing was on the wall that if Underwood landed another guard, Podziemski was probably going to be riding the pine once again.

Podziemski definitely has a bright future with whatever program he chooses. He showed sparks of greatness when he actually saw the court for the Illini. Against Missouri this season, Podziemski dropped seven points and three rebounds in just eight minutes of action. In a close win over Northwestern, he had five points and one assist in six minutes. This kid has talent, and I can’t wait to see what his future holds.

For Illinois fans, there is a silver lining, though. It is sad to see Podziemski go, but his departure now opens up another scholarship. According to my math, Illinois has 11 scholarships accounted for right now, meaning there are two available spots. This count has Kofi not coming back too.

There are still some big fish out there for Underwood and the coaching staff to reel in. Hopefully, we can add another guard to the mix. I am going to miss Podziemski and wish him nothing but the best. But let’s take this opportunity and add another great player. This team is still poised to do something special this season.