Illinois basketball loses defensive stopper to the transfer portal

Roster turnover is a part of the game, and the Illinois basketball team just lost a guard to the transfer portal.

Coming into the weekend, the only Illini departure from the transfer portal was Dain Dainja. The big man transferred out and landed with Memphis.

Illinois was also able to secure transfer portal commitments from Louisville guard Tre White and Mercer wing Jake Davis. These two are going to be solid players for the Illini roster.

On Sunday, the Illini got news of a huge transfer portal commitment. We were able to land point guard Kylan Boswell. He is someone who will light up the scoreboard while being able to run the offense.

The good vibes from landing Boswell were hampered a bit, though. On Monday, numerous outlets reported that Illinois guard Sencire Harris had entered the transfer portal.

Harris was a top-100 recruit coming out of the class of 2022. He picked Illinois as his landing spot. As a freshman, he played in 33 games and averaged 3.7 points and 2.1 rebounds per contest. Harris took a redshirt this past season due to so much talent being on the team.

Just six days ago, Harris confirmed that he was returning to Illinois. He posted on social media, “Year two loading. ILL- “. Well, that has now changed, as he is now in the transfer portal.

Illinois basketball should be able to sustain the transfer portal hit of Sencire Harris

Honestly, this transfer portal departure doesn’t come as much of a surprise. Illinois assistant coach Chester Frazier departed for West Virginia, so look for the Mountaineers to be a potential landing spot for the ace defender.

As far as the Illinois roster is concerned, this doesn’t hurt too much. In the most recent lineup projection with Boswell, I had Harris as the second backup at the No. 2 guard spot. I fully believe Luke Goode and Dra Gibbs-Lawhorn were going to be ahead of him on the roster.

There are also a lot of rumors swirling about other transfers coming into the program. Brad Underwood is doing a great job bringing in transfer talent and blending them with key freshmen. Harris likely wasn’t in those plans, though. This will now give Harris a chance to shine with another program and Illinois another roster spot for an incoming transfer portal player.