Illinois Basketball: Illini eyeing sharpshooting 3-point shooter in transfer portal

Illinois basketball is looking to add another shooter to the roster this offseason, and we may have found one in the transfer portal from the ACC.

This offseason has been a roller coaster for the Illini when it comes to mathematics. Illinois has subtracted a few players in Andre Curbelo, Omar Payne, and Brandin Podziemski. They leave some big holes in the Illini lineup. But we have also added a player in Skyy Clark who should help with more than just bringing the ball up the court.

With the three losses to the transfer portal – and the departure of the graduating guards – Illinois is in desperate need of another guard or two who could help fill the production voids. One of those players could be Nahiem Alleyne.

Alleyne is a 6-foot-4, 195-pound guard who wasn’t highly rated coming out of Mountain View High School. He was just a three-star recruit who was the No. 412 player in the class of 2019, but Alleyne still had decent recruiting attention. He would ultimately choose Virginia Tech as his landing spot.

With the Hokies, Alleyne had a productive career. He spent three seasons in Alexandria and his best year was averaging 11.1 points, 2.6 rebounds, and 1.7 assists per game. Now Alleyne is looking for a new home after entering the transfer portal this past Wednesday.

According to Andrew Slater of Pro Insight, there have been numerous teams that have contacted Alleyne. Among the myriad of teams that have contacted the talented guard, Illinois is in that mix.

Shooting from deep makes Nahiem Alleyne an intriguing player for the Illinois basketball team.

When I look at the numbers Alleyne put up last season – 9.6 points, 2.8 rebounds, 1.5 assists – I am not super impressed. Those numbers don’t jump off the page by any means. But there is a number that piqued my interest.

Alleyne took 166 three-pointers during the 2021-22 campaign and hit them at a clip of 37.3%. That is a really good number, and shockingly, that is his worst three-point shooting season. He hit 38.9% and 40.8% from three-point range during his freshman and sophomore seasons, respectively.

Illinois could use more sharpshooting three-point guards on the team. RJ Melendez is the only returning player on the team who had a better three-point shooting percentage last season, and he hit an absurd 60% from deep but only took 15 total three-pointers.

I also like the fact Alleyne still has two years of eligibility remaining. I wouldn’t mind bringing in a player who can be here more than one year, so we don’t have to hit the reset button after every season. There can be chemistry built on the team.

Illinois contacting Alleyne is a good move by the coaching staff. This kid can play, and we need more shooting on the team. Let’s see if anything formulates from this recent contact.