The women’s Illinois basketball team just landed one of the best players out of the transfer portal.
Most of the Illini fans who rooted for the women’s team this season had never seen the program have success. This was a new experience for many and a fun ride for the entire 2022-23 campaign.
The start of the successful run was the hiring of Shauna Green. She helped shape the program into what it is today. Green took the players who were already on the roster and paired them nicely with some incoming transfers. The ability for this team to come together and win the way they did last season was impressive.
Another impressive part about the Illini is that we aren’t losing much talent heading into the 2023-24 campaign. Most of the roster returns, and now Green is back at it landing more talent via the transfer portal.
On Tuesday afternoon, Shay Bollin took to social media to announce that she was ending her time in the transfer portal and committing to the Illini.
hail to the orange baby!!🧡💙 pic.twitter.com/pE3tO0rZcM
— Shay Bollin (@shaybollin22) April 25, 2023
Illinois basketball just landed a superstar out of the transfer portal in Shay Bollin
This isn’t just any regular transfer that Illinois just landed. Bollin is a big name who could help the Illini go from good to, potentially, a Big Ten and national title contender.
Coming out of Bridgewater-Raynham Regional High School in Massachusetts, Bollin was rated as a four-star recruit and ranked as the No. 33 player in the class of 2022. She was also the No. 7 forward in the country.
The 6-foot-3 forward would commit to Kara Lawson and the Duke Blue Devils out of high school. She would play in eight games as a freshman and averaged 2.4 points and 1.0 rebounds per contest.
Bollin entered the transfer portal after her freshman campaign, and now she has landed with the Illini. This is a great move on both parts, as I think Bollin will be an instant impact player for the 2023-24 campaign.
I think the biggest issue Illinois had this past season was with size. We weren’t terrible at rebounding the basketball, as Kendall Bostic is a monster in the paint, but beyond her, we didn’t have too much depth.
Bostic is only going to be around for one more season as well. That means we are going to need even more depth in the paint. That is where Bollin comes into play. She is actually a little bigger than Bostic, so for the upcoming season, we should have a couple of twin towers underneath the basket.
Let’s also not forget, Illinois added North Carolina State transfer, Camille Hobby, last week. She will be added to the frontcourt at 6-foot-3.
Green knew what she needed this offseason. We needed some more depth in the frontcourt. She has addressed that issue through the transfer portal with two big-time players. This Illini team is going to be dangerous this upcoming season.