Illinois Basketball: Star freshman avoids transfer portal and returns to Illini

Illinois basketball locked in a crucial piece of the roster with the return of a big-time freshman.

After finishing the 2022-23 campaign 20-13 overall, the Illini had some big roster changes. Many Illinois fans are used to the roster being flipped, as the team was pretty much gutted the year prior.

But this offseason has felt a little different. One of our superstar freshmen decided to enter the transfer portal and commit to Georgetown. This was the biggest shock thus far. We also lost a couple of other frontcourt pieces which will damage our depth.

The tides have started to turn in favor of the Orange and Blue, though. Despite losing three players to the transfer portal, Illinois was able to secure three transfer portal commitments. The most recent commitment came from Quincy Guerrier, who will be inserted into the starting lineup from day one.

On Tuesday night, Illinois received more good news. While he wasn’t in the transfer portal, there were rumors that Ty Rodgers was set to depart the Illinois program. This would have been devastating. But Rodgers put those rumors to bed, as he announced his return for at least one more season in Champaign.

Ty Rodgers not entering the transfer portal is the biggest win for the Illinois basketball team this offseason

Honestly, there was a lot of smoke when it came to Rodgers and the transfer portal. There wasn’t an announcement that he was coming back leading up to Tuesday night. There was no mention of Illinois on his social media profiles. I also heard from a reliable source that there was potential a transfer had been in the works months prior.

None of that matters now, though. Rodgers is back. I would argue that the return of Rodgers is bigger than any transfer portal addition the Illini could have pulled in this offseason.

Someone might read the statement above and scratch their head. Rodgers only averaged 3.3 points, 4.0 rebounds, and 1.0 assists per game. Why do I believe he is so valuable? I would ask the question; have you watched Illinois basketball?

Toward the end of the 2022-23 campaign, Rodgers started to earn the trust of Brad Underwood. His game also started to develop.

Through the first 21 games of his freshman season, Rodgers would average 14.5 minutes, 2.0 points, 0.9 rebounds, 0.4 steals, and 0.7 turnovers per game. He also shot 45.2% from the field.

Rodgers would improve greatly in his final 12 games. He would average 22.7 minutes, 5.4 points, 5.4 rebounds, 1.2 assists, 1.1 steals, and 1.0 turnovers per contest. He also bumped his shooting up to 56.9% from the field.

Illinois is now getting Rodgers back. I have him slotted into the starting lineup at the No. 3 spot. I think this season is going to be big for this budding superstar.