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Projected Illinois basketball lineup with transfer portal addition of Ben Humrichous

Illinois basketball is trying to build a roster to at least get back to the Elite 8, and adding a transfer portal player like Ben Humrichous will help the cause

By Rees Woodcock

Evansville s Ben Humrichous (13) dribbles up court as the University of Evansville Purple Aces
Evansville s Ben Humrichous (13) dribbles up court as the University of Evansville Purple Aces / MaCabe Brown / Courier & Press / USA
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Tuesday evened out the transfer portal for the Illinois basketball team, as we added a talented shooter to the mix.

Entering Tuesday, the Illini had five transfer portal departures and only four additions. That left us looking for more bodies to fill in the missing pieces, and Illinois landed a big-time transfer portal player in Ben Humrichous.

Humrichous brings the Illini great shooting and size to the frontcourt. He also frees up other players to help fill in the roster. The addition of Humrichous changes the projected lineup as well.

Here is the projected Illinois basketball lineup with the transfer portal addition of Ben Humrichous

No. 1 Guard

Starter: Ty Rodgers (JR)

The addition of Humrichous was huge for the future of the Illinois basketball lineup. With him joining the program, it frees up Ty Rodgers to help the Illini in the backcourt. Coming into Tuesday, I had Rodgers at the No. 4 spot, but I think he will revert to the starting No. 1 guard for next season.

Illinois honestly has multiple guards who can handle the basketball. While Rodgers is slotted in as the starting No. 1 guard, I think both he and Kylan Boswell will be the main ball handlers. Rodgers started to develop his guard skills last season too. He was fourth on the team with 2.0 assists per game, and he can get the offense going. Let’s see Rodgers can start shooting the ball from further than five feet away. That is the next step in his progression.

Backup: Dra Gibbs-Lawhorn (SO)

Coming into Tuesday, I had Dra Gibbs-Lawhorn as the starting No. 2 guard because Illinois was so thin. Humrichous gives the Illini more depth, so I think Gibbs-Lawhorn will become the backup guard for the program.

I have Gibbs-Lawhorn slotted as the backup No. 1 guard, but he could easily see 20 or more minutes coming in and playing the No. 1 or No. 2 spots. Illinois needs to add in the transfer portal, but Gibbs-Lawhorn looks to have a big increase in time on the floor coming up in 2024-25.

Backup: Transfer Portal

As I said in the Gibbs-Lawhorn section, I think he is the backup at the No. 1 and No. 2 guard spots right now. If Illinois can land another point guard out of the transfer portal, then I could see Gibbs-Lawhorn being the primary backup solely at the No. 2 guard spot.

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