Illinois basketball dodges transfer portal bullet with big-time guard returning

Illinois basketball officially has a big-time piece returning for the 2024-25 campaign.

It is a wild time of year, as the transfer portal has thousands of college athletes looking for a new home. The Illini alone have had our big man Dain Dainja depart and already land with Memphis. We have also added a piece in Jake Davis.

While keeping players home and in the same system is a tough battle, it is one that is necessary for an easier transition into the next season.

Illinois has quite a few players who could depart or come back to the program. Dra Gibbs-Lawhorn has already announced that he is returning. There has been a lot of buzz around the potential of Sencire Harris transferring, though.

The talented guard put those rumors to rest. On Monday, Harris posted on his social media account, “Year two loading” and followed that up with “ILL” in what was an announcement that he is back in the fold.

Illinois basketball dodged a big transfer portal loss with Sencire Harris announcing his return

The potential of Harris transferring is something that was on a lot of Illinois fan’s minds the past few months. He took a redshirt to start the year due to so much talent on the team, and in today’s age of college basketball, having the transfer portal slip into the mind is natural.

Harris put those rumors to rest, and now Illinois dodges a massive bullet by him avoiding the transfer portal. We have a talented guard who knows the system returning in 2024-25.

During his freshman season at Illinois, Harris averaged 3.7 points and 2.1 rebounds per game. He played in 33 contests and registered 14.5 minutes per game as well.

At times this past season, Illinois struggled on the defensive end of the court. We could have used Harris in a big way, but I completely understand his decision to redshirt. The Illini are now getting a defensive stopper who has some potential on the offensive end of the court.

I still liken Harris to the potential that Luther Head had at Illinois. Early on in his career, Head was not the scorer he was at the end of his time at Illinois. I think Harris can develop his offensive game and become a great two-way player.