Illinois Basketball: Illini forward enters the transfer portal

The dreaded transfer portal strikes the Illinois basketball team once again.

Since the conclusion of the 2021-22 campaign, the Illini have now lost four players to the transfer portal. It all started with Omar Payne departing. Andre Curbelo followed close behind. A surprising transfer in Brandin Podziemski was next. Now, Illinois is losing Benjamin Bosmans-Verdonk.

According to Verbal Commits, Verdonk has officially entered the transfer portal. I am a little surprised by this departure considering Illinois lost a few big man pieces this offseason. Verdonk may have had a chance to make an impact on the No. 5 spot this upcoming season.

What does the Illinois basketball team look like after Benjamin Bosmans-Verdonk enters the transfer portal?

This departure hurts the Illini depth at the No. 4 and No. 5 spots. Kofi Cockburn left for the NBA. Payne departed via the transfer portal. These were two big losses. Now Verdonk is gone.

I have always thought Brad Underwood should go with a more athletic lineup. Moving Coleman Hawkins over to the starting No. 5 spot is a good idea in my eyes. If we need a more traditional big man, Dain Dainja could always start. These two give Underwood more flexibility.

With the Verdonk departure, that leaves Illinois with three open scholarships for this upcoming season. This is very intriguing considering there are a few transfer portal options still available.

A name to keep an eye on is Courtney Ramey. He has declared for the NBA Draft, but he is also leaving the door open for coming back to college by entering the transfer portal. Illinois seems to be mentioned in just about every post about Ramey’s recruitment.

I think David Jones is another player to watch. Illinois was in Jones’ top seven when he was being recruited a couple of years ago. The DePaul transfer entered the portal last week, so Illinois might be in the running here.

There are options to fill the final three scholarships for 2022. While Illinois is losing some talent on the team, we haven’t lost any real big hitters yet. This program is still poised to have a big 2022-23 season.