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Illinois Basketball: Top 3 transfer portal options left for the Illini

By Rees Woodcock

Jan 17, 2022; Champaign, Illinois, USA; Illinois Fighting Illini head coach Brad Underwood applauds during the second half against the Purdue Boilermakers at State Farm Center. Mandatory Credit: Ron Johnson-USA TODAY Sports
Jan 17, 2022; Champaign, Illinois, USA; Illinois Fighting Illini head coach Brad Underwood applauds during the second half against the Purdue Boilermakers at State Farm Center. Mandatory Credit: Ron Johnson-USA TODAY Sports /
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Mar 20, 2022; Milwaukee, WI, USA; Texas Longhorns guard Courtney Ramey (3) shoots the ball during the first half against Purdue Boilermakers guard Jaden Ivey (23) in the second round of the 2022 NCAA Tournament at Fiserv Forum. Mandatory Credit: Benny Sieu-USA TODAY Sports
Mar 20, 2022; Milwaukee, WI, USA; Texas Longhorns guard Courtney Ramey (3) shoots the ball during the first half against Purdue Boilermakers guard Jaden Ivey (23) in the second round of the 2022 NCAA Tournament at Fiserv Forum. Mandatory Credit: Benny Sieu-USA TODAY Sports /

2. Courtney Ramey

Courtney Ramey is a name Illinois was originally pursuing when he was coming out of high school. The Illini couldn’t land him the first time, but this time around, things might be different.

Ramey was a big-time recruit coming out of St. Louis. He was a four-star point guard who was ranked as the No. 43 player in the class of 2018. Texas would be his landing spot, though. Ramey would flourish with the Longhorns in the four seasons he suited up for the team.

The best year Ramey had with Texas was as a junior when he averaged 12.2 points, 3.2 rebounds, 3.9 assists, and 1.0 steals per game. Another eye-popping stat that season was the fact he shot 116 three-pointers and made them at a clip of 41.4%. That is an insane number and one NBA scouts would love.

Speaking of the NBA, while Ramey did enter the transfer portal a couple of months back, he also declared for the NBA Draft. Much like Pete Nance, Ramey is still in the draft process, meaning he has until June 1 to withdraw his name. That is something I am watching over the next couple of days.

If past history dictates what could happen in the future, then I think I would predict that Ramey comes back to college but heads somewhere else besides Illinois. There have been a lot of transfers who had Illinois as one of their top teams coming out of high school but decided to not pick the Illini the second time around.

Don’t get me wrong, though, I would love Ramey on the team. I think he would be an amazing addition to the program. If we get Ramey and not Nance, then I think the starting lineup looks like this; No. 1 Skyy Clark, No. 2 Ramey, No. 3 Terrence Shannon Jr., No. 4 Matthew Mayer, No. 5 Coleman Hawkins. Again, that is an amazing lineup and one that could win a national title.

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