Illinois Basketball: Illini should avoid transfer portal guard Jahvon Quinerly

Illinois basketball has a scholarship open, and the big question remains of who we will use it on for 2023-24.

There are a few options out there for the Illini, but those options continue to dwindle by the day. A name like Chris Johnson was available at one point, but he has since committed to Texas. That is one less option for the Orange and Blue.

On Sunday, a new option emerged from the transfer portal dust. Alabama guard Jahvon Quinerly posted on social media that he was ending his time at Alabama and entering the transfer portal.

Illinois basketball should be a hard-pass on transfer portal option Jahvon Quinerly

Coming out of Hudson Catholic High School in New Jersey, Quinerly was a five-star recruit who was the No. 28 player in the class of 2018. He was also the No. 8 point guard in the country and the No. 3 player coming out of New Jersey.

Quinerly would end up committing to Villanova. He would play a singular season with the Wildcats where he would suit up in 25 games and average 3.2 points per contest. After that lone season, Quinerly decided to take his talents into the transfer portal. At that time, you had to still sit out a season when you transferred.

Alabama was Quinerly’s next landing spot. After sitting out the 2019-20 campaign, Quinerly would spend three seasons with the Crimson Tide. This past season, he would end up averaging 8.7 points, 3.6 assists, and 1.9 rebounds per game.

Quinerly is now looking for a new home after reentering the transfer portal as a graduate transfer. Since he is a graduate transfer, he doesn’t have to sit out a season.

Opinion

I love when Illinois pursues players in the transfer portal who will help the program win games now and into the future. I don’t think that will be the case with Quinerly.

If Quinerly was putting up impressive numbers, then there would be a bigger case to try to land him. His numbers went from 13.8 points, 4.2 assists, and 3.0 rebounds per game to 8.7 points, 3.6 assists, and 1.9 rebounds per game over the last two seasons. Overall, while his numbers are solid, they don’t blow me away.

Quinerly’s numbers, while decent, aren’t good enough to potentially risk the development of other players on the roster. I could actually see him hurting the program in the long run.

If Brad Underwood does land Quinerly, he would start for Illinois. There is no way he is going to a team and not starting. So, that means someone who has already committed, transferred, or remained loyal to Illinois will be pushed back a roster spot.

I know some people are going to say that Illinois doesn’t have a true point guard, so Quinerly wouldn’t be pushing players back a roster spot. That isn’t correct though. If Quinerly does come to Illinois, he would push someone out of a starting job. He would also be taking up 20-30 minutes on the court, which comes from the development of the younger guys, such as Ty Rodgers and Sencire Harris. Those minutes don’t just magically appear.

Pushing everyone down because there is a new shiny toy is not the way to go. That is how you burn your guys and how you get departing transfers. This offseason was a roller coaster of emotions as a few young players could have easily transferred, but they decided to stick with the team. Let’s not burn them for a player who puts up average numbers.

The grass isn’t always greener on the other side of the fence. If Quinerly was a great player with big-time numbers, then sure, we should pursue him. But he is not. I would hope Illinois sits this one out and trusts the guys we have on the roster.