The transfer portal has hit the men’s side of the game pretty hard, but the women’s Illinois basketball team is also adding some talent this offseason.
Coming off an NCAA tournament the year before, the Illini didn’t finish the 2023-24 regular season well. We notched a 14-14 record overall and bowed out of the Big Ten Tournament in the first round to Maryland.
Illinois ended the season in a fury, though. Five straight wins in the WBIT enabled the Orange and Blue to take home the inaugural championship. This was a great way to end the season. That momentum has carried over to the offseason as well.
On April 4, Mississippi State guard Jasmine Brown-Hagger entered the transfer portal. On Friday, it was announced that she has picked Illinois as her landing spot.
🔶 Welcome to the FamILLy, @jassyj2023 🔷#Illini | #HTTO | #OneWay pic.twitter.com/NmG06z6JEG
— Illinois Women's Basketball (@IlliniWBB) April 27, 2024
Coming out of Example Academy and originally from Shorewood, Illinois, Brown-Hagger was a four-star recruit who was ranked as the No. 54 player in the class of 2023. She was also the No. 20 guard in the country and the best player coming out of Illinois.
Brown-Hagger picked the Bulldogs as her landing spot. In her lone season with Mississippi State, she averaged 2.1 points, 1.5 rebounds, 0.6 assists, and 0.5 steals while playing 8.7 minutes per game in 33 contests. Now Brown-Hagger will be taking her talents to Champaign.
Illinois basketball just added some much-needed depth out of the transfer portal with Jasmine Brown-Hagger
Shauna Green has done a great job with the Illinois basketball program over the last two seasons. She is winning on the court, and her recruiting ability has proven to be top-notch thus far.
Green has landed some big-time recruits and transfer portal players, and a lot of those players are returning for one final season.
Kendall Bostic returns to play the No. 5 spot. She is a first-team All-Big Ten caliber center. Our entire backcourt is back as well. Genesis Bryant and Makira Cook both announced they are returning to the program for the 2024-25 campaign. Adalia McKenzie is also back for her senior campaign.
Cook and Bryant will be great at the No. 1 and No. 2 guard, respectively. I love Gretchen Dolan working as a primary backup to both of these great guards. She looked great during her freshman season.
I then have Brown-Hagger coming in as the primary backup to McKenzie. These two should form a great one-two punch on the wing. Both players can slash and get to the basket.
Illinois has a great starting lineup for the 2024-25 season, but we needed more depth. Green was able to add that depth with the addition of Brown-Hagger. These are Big Ten title-competing moves.