New names don the Illinois basketball transfer portal and recruiting wish list

With some big names off the board, here is an updated transfer portal and recruiting wish list for the Illinois basketball program
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Dayton v Arizona / Chris Gardner/GettyImages
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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.