5. Xavier Amos – Northern Illinois Huskies
Continuing on the line of needing some frontcourt help, I think Illinois needs someone who can stretch the floor and rebound the basketball. Carey Booth fits that mold, but so does Xavier Amos.
Amos is a 6-foot-8, 215-pound forward who has spent the last two seasons with Northern Illinois. He wasn’t highly recruited coming out of high school, but the Chicago, Illinois native has been putting up some great numbers with the Huskies.
This past season, Amos started in 25 games and averaged 13.8 points, 5.8 rebounds, 1.3 blocks, and 1.2 assists per game. He is also developing into a pretty good shooter, as Amos hit 38.5% from three-point range.
Illinois has been after Amos pretty much since he entered the transfer portal. He also talked about taking a visit to Champaign as well. This is a recruitment that I believe Illinois can win at the end of the day.
If Amos does come to Illinois, I see him being a strong contender to start at the No. 4 spot in the Illinois lineup. As mentioned earlier, I believe Morez Johnson Jr. will start at the No. 5 spot. That leaves Amani Hansberry to duke it out for the No. 4 spot. Having Amos and Hansberry in a timeshare isn’t a bad idea.