Updated Illinois basketball transfer portal wish list includes a familiar name

Illinois basketball is far from having a complete roster, as the transfer portal is still a hot topic.

While the transfer portal did close on May 1, that is only for new entrants. The Illini can still target players who are in the transfer portal. Over the past couple of days, new names have emerged as targets as well.

Brad Underwood has a lot of work to do to fill out the roster. He has done a great job thus far, but there are some names that are at the top of my mind.

Here is my updated transfer portal wish list for the Illinois basketball program

Wooga Poplar - Miami Hurricanes

It seems that new names emerge from the transfer portal daily, even though the portal closed just a couple of days ago. Illinois is looking for more scoring, and someone like Wooga Poplar would be a great option.

Poplar is a 6-foot-5, 197-pound guard who attended Math Civics and Sciences Charter School in Philadelphia. He was rated as a four-star recruit and ranked as the No. 123 player in the class of 2021.

Despite a lot of teams eyeing Poplar, he picked Miami (FL) as his landing spot. Poplar’s game has blossomed in the last two seasons. He averaged 8.4 points, 3.3 rebounds, 1.5 assists, and 1.1 steals per game for a Final 4-bound Miami squad.

This past season, Poplar increased his averages. He put up 13.1 points, 4.8 rebounds, and 2.1 assists per game.

Adam Zagoria of Zagsblog is reporting that Poplar has been contacted by Illinois. He would be a great addition to the team, and I believe Poplar would start from day one.

My guess is that Poplar would be slotted in the No. 3 spot on the floor. Ty Rodgers would continue playing the No. 1 spot. Kylan Boswell would then be at the No. 2 spot. Tre White would be a floating backup at the No. 2 or No. 3 spots. That leaves the door open for Poplar as the starting No. 3.