Illinois Basketball: Illini in contact with highly-touted transfer portal guard

Illinois basketball will look to rebuild its roster through the transfer portal, as the 2023-24 offseason is in full swing for Brad Underwood.

The Illini are amid a crucial offseason for Underwood and his staff. After the departure of Jayden Epps Tuesday morning, Illinois will again look to the transfer portal to rebuild the roster. One of those targets is Northern Colorado guard Dalton Knecht.

According to Sean Paul of the Mountain West Wire, the Orange and Blue are among several schools interested in Knecht. Knecht is 6-foot-6, 200 pounds, and hails from Thornton, Colorado.

After playing two seasons at Northeastern Junior College, where he earned first-team All-American honors, Knecht opted to transfer to Northern Colorado for the 2022-23 season.

Knecht would have the most productive season of his college career in year one with the Bears. In 34 games, he averaged 9.1 points per game while hauling in 125 rebounds and competed for 24.2 minutes a night.

His contributions led the Bears to the second round of the Big Sky Tournament, where they would fall to Montana State, 84-73. The team finished the season 12-20, posting a 6-12 mark in league play.

Knecht spoke on his Big Sky accolades, as he led the conference in scoring, during an interview with 9News, a Colorado NBC affiliate.

"“It feels real good,” said the UNC senior. “Everyone loves scoring but also it comes to like your teammates being unselfish enough to let you be able to get those shots up and them looking for you as well so it just kind of like motivates you even more just to keep pushing and get it to another level.”"

Dalton Knecht would add a missing piece for the Illinois basketball team

Illinois was the Big Ten’s lowest shooting team from three-point range, which plagued the program all season. With how consistently Knecht is on the floor, Underwood will likely put him to good use and give the Illini a chance to remain competitive.

Though early in his recruiting spree, Knecht is a prospect to watch out for as the transfer portal will remain a key asset in and around college basketball.