Illinois basketball checks in on game-changing 5-star guard from the class of 2024

Illinois basketball has been one of the most active teams in the transfer portal, and that isn’t slowing down anytime soon.

On the board right now are three Illini defections in Dain Dainja, Sencire Harris, and Amani Hansberry. Brad Underwood and his coaching staff have also added Kylan Boswell, Jake Davis, Tre White, and Carey Booth. That makes us +1 in the transfer portal.

Some of the players who transfer out of a program are doing so because a coach left the team to take another job. That is a reason that some recruits back out of their National Letter of Intent as well.

On Monday, Boogie Fland was one of those players. John Calipari left for Arkansas, so the Kentucky signee decided to get out of his NLI and reopen his recruitment.

In a social media post by Paul Biancardi of ESPN, Fland says that his recruitment is open and he is back to square one. In that same post, Biancardi mentions a list of 10 teams that have already contacted Fland, Illinois being one of them.

Illinois basketball landing Boogie Fland would be huge for the roster and the chances of a national title

It is a tough road ahead to land someone like Fland, but can’t a man dream? Fland is a 6-foot-2, 170-pound combo guard out of Archbishop Stepinac in New York. He is rated as a five-star recruit and ranked as the No. 18 player in the class of 2024. He is also the No. 2 combo guard in the country and the No. 3 player coming out of New York.

Fland would give Illinois two top-30 recruits for the class of 2024, which is an insane group to bring into a program. He would instantly take Illinois into the serious national title-contending group as well.

Illinois might have an in with Fland too. Calipari is now with Arkansas, and one of his assistant coaches, Orlando Antigua, was reportedly going with him. Over the past couple of days, the rumblings have been getting louder about Antigua filling in the assistant coach position left by Chester Frazier.

Antigua was an assistant coach on Underwood’s Illinois coaching staff from 2017 through 2021. He is familiar with what Underwood wants to do, and he is a great recruiter. If these rumblings continue to get louder, there might be a legitimate chance of also landing Fland.

This offseason has been crazy. Illinois isn’t a sleeping giant anymore. We are just a giant, and it is fun to watch.