Illinois Basketball: Mid-major could provide Illini depth via the transfer portal

Illinois basketball should have a couple of goals to accomplish this offseason in the transfer portal.

I think one of the goals for the Illini should be to land a point guard. This would enable players like Jayden Epps, Sencire Harris, and Ty Rodgers to play their natural roles on the court.

Another goal for Illinois is to get deeper. We don’t have a ton of depth now that, at least, Matthew Mayer is departing. In my opinion, there is a strong chance Terrence Shannon Jr. and Coleman Hawkins will also leave for the NBA.

While the Illini are targeting numerous players in the transfer portal, a nice depth option might be Tyeree Bryan. He announced his intent to transfer a few days ago from Charleston Southern.

On Saturday, The Portal Report tweeted out that Bryan had already heard from a wide range of teams, and the first team on the list was Illinois.

Landing Tyeree Bryan in the transfer portal would give the Illinois basketball team a spark plug off the bench

Bryan, who has two years of eligibility remaining, has only played one season for the Buccaneers. This past season, he managed to average 10.5 points, 5.5 rebounds, and 1.8 assists per game. He also shot 45.2% from the field and 42.1% from the three-point arc.

I have been wanting Illinois to pursue players who could help elevate the program, and I think Bryan could be that option. He is a really good player who wants to display his talents at a higher level. Champaign could be a great landing spot.

Bryan could come into the Illinois program and be a primary rotation guy who comes in for the No. 2 or No. 3 spots. Shoot, I think he could even dabble in playing the No. 4 spot as well with his ability to rebound the basketball.

Illinois needs help off the bench. Bryan would still get something like 20 minutes in each game and could average near what he averaged with Charleston Southern. Brad Underwood loves to rotate guys in and out. He would love someone like Bryan.

I think it is a great idea to pursue a player like Bryan. He put up good numbers last season, but they aren’t blow-me-away-sure-fire-starter numbers at the Big Ten level. Bryan could come in and be a huge spark plug on what could end up being a top 10 team in the country in Illinois.