Illinois Basketball: Former 4-star transfer portal player set to visit Illini

Illinois basketball might be in line for a big-time transfer portal commitment in the near future.

The Illini have had a weird relationship with the transfer portal thus far. It helped build the team we had last season, but we have already lost three scholarship players to transfer after the 2022-23 campaign.

To help fill those voids, Brad Underwood and the Illinois coaching staff were able to land two solid transfers. It looks like the Illini aren’t done with just adding those two pieces, though.

On Wednesday, it was announced that Quincy Guerrier would be taking a visit to Champaign. This would be a great get for the program and one that would help the frontcourt tremendously.

Landing Quincy Guerrier out of the transfer portal would give Illinois basketball one of the best frontcourts in the college game

If Guerrier’s name sounds familiar, well, it should. When he was coming out of Thetford Academy in Canada, Illinois was one of the teams recruiting him. He actually took an official visit to Champaign in 2018 but would commit to Syracuse.

The former four-star recruit spent two seasons with the Orange and would average 13.7 points, 8.4 rebounds, and 1.1 blocks per game as a sophomore. After that campaign, Guerrier would enter the transfer portal.

Illinois, once again, wanted Guerrier to come to Champaign. We were in his top four the second time around. Sadly, the Illini were left at the doorstep, as the Oregon Ducks would be his landing spot.

Guerrier has spent the last two seasons with the Ducks. Now the 6-foot-8 stretch No. 4 is looking for a new home to finish up his final season of college basketball.

There are a couple of numbers that pop out to me when it comes to Guerrier. One of the numbers is his three-point shooting. He has improved in this area every season. Over the past three seasons, he has shot 31.1%, 32.7%, and 34.7% from three-point range, respectively.

If Illinois was to bring Guerrier into the program, I could see him playing the No. 3 or No. 4 spot. With his three-point shooting, he can really stretch the floor. I would like to see most No. 3’s try to guard a guy on the wing who is 6-foot-8 as well. That would be a matchup nightmare.

Illinois is reloading for the upcoming season. An addition like Guerrier would go a long way in getting back to the NCAA tournament. He would be a big fish to land.