One of Editor & Publisher’s ‘10 That Do It Right 2021’
Cloudy. Low 27F. Winds E at 10 to 15 mph..
Cloudy. Low 27F. Winds E at 10 to 15 mph.
Updated: March 28, 2022 @ 5:20 pm
Illinois assistant coach Tim Anderson at State Farm Center in Champaign on Sunday, March 6, 2022.
College/Prep Sports Reporter
Scott Richey is a reporter covering college basketball at The News-Gazette. His email is srichey@news-gazette.com, and you can follow him on Twitter (@srrichey).
Illinois assistant coach Tim Anderson at State Farm Center in Champaign on Sunday, March 6, 2022.
Welcome to “Good Morning, Illini Nation,” your daily dose of college basketball news from Illini beat writer and AP Top 25 voter Scott Richey. He’ll offer up insights every morning on Brad Underwood’s team:
If it seems like all the guards in the transfer portal Illinois is interested in have something in common, it’s because they do. The Illini are apparently on the hunt for a little more size in the backcourt. Brad Underwood isn’t afraid of playing multiple guards, and when he did that this season it was with 6-foot-2 Trent Frazier, 6-1 Andre Curbelo and 6-1 Alfonso Plummer.
Bigger guards gave the Illini some trouble. So now Underwood and Co. are apparently looking for their own.
Add Mizzou, Pittsburgh, Illinois, Georgetown, and Iona here as well. The list for Reeves will continue to grow. Heavy market for the talented prospect who had 662 points in 32 games this season. https://t.co/Oj9yM9v9hl
Reeves wouldn’t be going far if he wound up in Champaign. The former Simeon standout spent the past three seasons at Illinois State and is in the transfer portal with two seasons of eligibility. The 6-4, 185-pound guard had a breakout junior season for the Redbirds and finished the year as a top 20 scorer in the country. Reeves set new career highs basically across the board averaging 20.1 points, 3.5 rebounds, 1.8 assists and 1.1 steals. That extended to his shooting, too, as he put up a career-best shooting slash of 47/39/82.
Temple transfer Jeremiah Williams has heard from Illinois, Loyola-Chi, DePaul, Iowa St, Vandy, UGA & Santa Clara among others since entering the portal, he tells me. 6-5 SO put up 9.5 PTS & 4.3 AST per gameLone AAC player with an AST rate> 30%, BLK rate > 2% & STL rate > 2% pic.twitter.com/PaYl6LX8IK
Williams, another former Simeon standout, spent the past two seasons at Temple. The 6-5, 185-pound guard was a starter from day one for the Owls and put up nearly identical numbers in 2021-22 as he did a year ago. Williams is averaging 9.5 points, 4.3 assists and 3.5 rebounds for his college career. The only real knock on him is his shooting. Williams improved as a two-point shooter — particularly with his mid-range game — but his three-point shooting dropped from 32.4 percent as a freshman to 23.1 percent as a sophomore.
Scott Richey covers college basketball for The News-Gazette. His email is srichey@news-gazette.com, and you can follow him on Twitter (@srrichey).
Welcome to “Good Morning, Illini Nation,” your daily dose of college basketball news from Il…
Welcome to “Good Morning, Illini Nation,” your daily dose of college basketball news from Il…
Welcome to “Good Morning, Illini Nation,” your daily dose of college basketball news from Il…
Welcome to “Good Morning, Illini Nation,” your daily dose of college basketball news from Il…
Welcome to “Good Morning, Illini Nation,” your daily dose of college basketball news from Il…
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