As the Illinois Fighting Illini and head coach Brad Underwood do everything they can to land a commitment from transfer guard John Blackwell, they have had to fend off other programs from every angle.
Now, yet another team has entered the conversation, and it's a program that has shown its willingness to spend a lot of money to get what it wants this offseason.
The Louisville Cardinals, led by head coach Pat Kelsey, have secured the No. 1 transfer portal class in the country so far, with commitments from three blue-chip transfers: five-star center Flory Bidunga, four-star power forward Karter Knox, and four-star point guard Jackson Shelstad.
Now, the Cardinals and Kelsey have set their sights on Blackwell, adding just another program for the Illini to fend off in hopes of landing Blackwell's commitment.
Louisville and Pat Kelsey enter the John Blackwell chat
Kelsey has seemingly landed any transfer portal prospect that he has wanted so far this offseason, picking up Bidunga, Knox, and Shelstad with apparent ease.
Meanwhile, Underwood, while doing an absolutely phenomenal job at retention, has only landed one commitment from the portal: four-star shooting guard Stefan Vaaks.
With Louisville now in the Blackwell conversation, Underwood and the Illini face their steepest competition yet (based on the Cardinals' success so far) to bring the former Wisconsin Badger to Champaign.
The biggest push behind Kelsey's recruiting efforts has been the amount of money Louisville has been willing to spend on transfer portal prospects, reportedly spending upwards of $5 million on Bidunga.
While Underwood and Illinois might have that money to spend, it hasn't exactly been his go-to recruiting method over the last few years, spending less but still bringing in the talent he has needed to get from the portal.
Blackwell is one of the top remaining players in the portal who has yet to commit, and at least according to On3, he is still relatively split between Illinois and the Duke Blue Devils.
For now, the Fighting Illini faithful will just have to wait and see how Louisville's entering the conversation sways Blackwell's focus.
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