Illinois basketball will have a roster to remodel after its March Madness run under Brad Underwood. The Illini looks like they’ll lose talent to one-and-done decisions ahead of the NBA Draft. Forward Morez Johnson Jr. and guard Tre White are also in the college basketball transfer portal.
Guards Kasparas Jakucionis and Will Riley are teetering towards early league departures, per the Illini Inquirer on 247Sports. Underwood looks like he’ll have a completely different and younger roster. Fans have shown unrest already. Even Illinois legend Dee Brown is encouraging those fans to remain calm.
Or Underwood can reload on experience in this new era of CBB. Teams like Illinois now have the luxury of building rosters off NCAA Tournament talent and even ballers from the Big Ten Conference. Underwood claims his program is in great shape. But new additions are still needed.
Four portal players look like impact Illini players if brought over. Including two Underwood knows very well already from the Big Ten. Here are the top four targets in the portal.
Josh Dix, SG, Iowa
Illinois looks like it’ll soon be ravaged in the backcourt. The rival Dix can help ease those pending losses.
The 6-foot-6 Dix is perfect for catch-and-shoot plays Underwood draws up. He hit 46% of his baskets off those type of plays per Synergy. He’s the top-ranked available shooting guard in the portal by 247Sports.
Illinois, however, must find a way to get him over to campus for a visit. Rival Indiana will host him on a Monday visit, per peegs.com on 247Sports.
Malik Reneau, PF, Indiana
Illinois can swipe a former Hoosier to build its own front court ahead of the 2025-26 season.
Reneau is one of the top forwards in the portal who’s leaving after the departure of Mike Woodson. The southpaw shooter averaged 13.3 points per game last season, then 15.4 PPG the previous season.
Reneau is praised for his high basketball IQ. He’d bolster the experience and front court scoring in Illinois. And add some Big Ten experience in Champaign.
Dedan Thomas, PG, UNLV
Thomas is the best available point guard now that Donovan Dent landed at UCLA. And Thomas also starred in the Mountain West with Dent.
The point guard is fresh off delivering a career-high 15.6 points per game. He hits defenses with tough pull-up jumpers, floaters and brings strong peripheral vision on the floor.
Thomas is getting courted by Kentucky — with Joe Tipton of On3 revealing the interest out of Lexington. Thomas is perfect for Underwood and Illinois, however, if roster movement begins soon in the backcourt.
Oscar Cluff, Center, South Dakota State
Cluff is off to his third different college basketball team in the last three years. He’d change Underwood’s high-volume three-point attack and add a needed post wrinkle for next season.
The 6-foot-11 Australia native elevated his points to 17.6 per game with the Jackrabbits. He also played in a past power conference with Washington State before the Pac-12 imploded.
Cluff is a high-energy rebounder and post scorer. In the Big Ten you can never ignore big options who can clean up the glass and pound the ball inside the hoop while in the paint. Cluff does both efficiently well. Illinois can even strike front court gold by convincing Johnson Jr. to team with Cluff.
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