High scoring former Illinois basketball recruiting target enters the transfer portal

A former Illinois basketball target is back in the transfer portal after a successful mid-major career.

The Illini continue to navigate through the transfer portal, as we have only lost three players and picked up four commitments thus far.

Brad Underwood continues to filter through potential additions. Some of the big names like Dante Maddox Jr. and AJ Storr are off the board, but there are quite a few portal players and recruits whom the Illini should have their eyes on.

A new but familiar name has officially entered the transfer portal. On Friday, Wesley Cardet Jr. decided to find a new home, as he became one of the latest players to enter the transfer portal.

Coming out of West Oaks Academy in Florida, Cardet was a four-star recruit who was ranked as the No. 78 player in the class of 2021. He had some great recruiting attention but ended up picking Samford as his landing spot.

Cardet played one season with Samford before entering the transfer portal. In 2022, he landed with Chicago State. Cardet has spent the last two seasons with the Cougars, and he put up some eye-popping numbers. As a junior, Cardet averaged 18.7 points, 4.5 rebounds, and 2.6 assists per game.

With one year of eligibility remaining, Cardet is now looking for a new home. Champaign might be a good option for this kid.

Illinois basketball is familiar with transfer portal guard Wesley Cardet Jr.

Cardet has shown he can put up some great numbers in the college game. On top of the big numbers he put up with Chicago State, he was also able to knock down 34.4% from three-point range, and he is a career 76.1% free throw shooter.

The Illini are familiar with Cardet as well. Back in 2020, the Writing Illini interviewed Cardet on where he stood with Illinois. We were close with him. In that interview, Cardet mentioned Illinois called him “…every day.”

A potential in with Cardet the second time around could be with a possible assistant coach addition. I keep checking social media, and there hasn’t been anything confirmed about where Orlando Antigua will end up. He was the assistant coach at Illinois from 2017 to 2021. He then went to Kentucky. John Calipari left Kentucky for Arkansas, and now there are rumors Antigua might come back to Champaign.

Cardet was close to Antigua. In the interview back in 2020, Cardet was quoted as saying, “Illinois is definitely a serious contender. Coach O (Orlando Antigua) is like family. There is a level of trust with him.”

Look for reports to come out that Illinois is one of the teams to contact Cardet. He is a great player, and the Illini could always use more scoring on the wing.