Illinois basketball is gearing up for the NCAA tournament, but while the postseason hasn’t even started, the transfer portal is already heating up.
The Illini coaching staff has the tough task of balancing planning for the NCAA tournament and also contacting players who have already entered the transfer portal, which is a growing number by the minute.
I haven’t put a list of the top five transfer portal players together just yet, that will come later, but I have put together three focuses for the Illinois basketball team. With the way the roster is shaping up for next season, Illinois needs to fill a few holes. With these focuses, I think we can get back to the NCAA tournament and clinch another top-three seed.
Here are three transfer portal focuses for the Illinois basketball team
Focus #1: Get shooters
While Illinois is going to look completely different next season, that isn't always a bad thing. The Illini has a ton of talent returning to the roster.
My biggest concern is the fact Illinois is losing shooters. The players who will be departing the program are the main scorers on the team.
Overall, the Illini are about to lose 80% of the point production from this year’s team. That is a lot to replace, and it is why the transfer portal is such a great thing. We can go in and get some good replacements to help steady the ship.
Going into the 2024-25 campaign, the best shooter Illinois has on the team is without question Luke Goode. He is seventh on the team in scoring right now, but he has taken the second-most three-point attempts this season and leads the team in three-point shooting at 39%.
Beyond Goode, Illinois is looking at Niccolo Moretti and Dra Gibbs-Lawhorn as the main shooting threats. That is a bit rough when it comes to the shooting department.
Brad Underwood needs to focus on landing a few shooters in the transfer portal. Illinois needs someone who can put the ball in the hoop from further than 10 feet away.
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