Top 10 Illinois basketball transfers of all time

The transfer portal has helped the Illinois basketball program a lot over the decades with some of the incoming transfers playing some big minutes.

By Rees Woodcock | Feb 28, 2024, 7:38 AM CST

Dec 6, 2022; New York, New York, USA; Illinois Fighting Illini guard Terrence Shannon Jr. (0) reacts after scoring and drawing a foul against the Texas Longhorns during overtime at Madison Square Garden. Mandatory Credit: Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports /

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No. 9 Shelly Clark

Illinois basketball didn’t do a ton of winning in the middle of the 1990s, but they did have some impact players. One of those players was transfer, Shelly Clark.

Clark’s first stop out of high school was with the Indian Hills Community College Warriors. He would spend two successful seasons with the Warriors. During his sophomore season, he averaged 17.4 points and 13.0 rebounds per contest.

This type of great play sparked the interest of Illinois and coach Lou Henson. The Illini would pursue Clark and would snag the great big man. He would end up playing two seasons in Champaign and would flourish in his role.

During his final year in 1994-95, Clark would average 11.8 points, 8.3 rebounds, and 1.5 assists per game. While he was at Illinois, the program would make back-to-back NCAA tournament appearances, both of which ended up being first-round exits.

Clark could have picked any team in the country coming out of Indian Hills, but he ended up picking Illinois. Clark would average nearly a double-double in his final year at Illinois, and he helped us get to the NCAA tournament after a rough stretch to begin the 1990s. Clark’s transfer into the program was important for this team.

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