Jared Coleman-Jones – Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders
The trend continues of adding to the Illinois frontcourt. Brad Underwood has done a great job building the frontcourt this season, and adding someone like Jared Coleman-Jones would give us one of the best frontcourts in all of college basketball.
Coming out of McEachern High School in Georgia, Coleman-Jones was a three-star recruit who was ranked as the No. 182 player in the class of 2019. He was also the No. 37 center in the country and the No. 9 player coming out of Georgia.
Coleman-Jones had decent scholarship offers, but he picked Northwestern as his landing spot. He played one season for the Wildcats before transferring out and landing with Middle Tennessee. Coleman-Jones has now spent three seasons with the Blue Raiders, and he played well in 2023-24.
Last season, Coleman-Jones averaged 11.0 points, 7.6 rebounds, 2.3 assists, and 1.1 blocks in the 33 games he started. With one year left to play in the college ranks, Coleman-Jones is now looking for a new home.
After Colman-Jones entered the transfer portal, he was contacted by several big-time programs. One of the teams to reach out to the big man was Illinois. This would be a great addition to the frontcourt.
If Coleman-Jones picked Illinois, he would be slotted right behind Morez Johnson Jr. at the No. 5 spot. These two would be a dominating force for the Illini around the basket. It would give Underwood more flexibility with minutes for Johnson as well. This would be a big addition to the program.