Illinois Fighting Illini
When MAC Player of the Year and Toledo guard RajJ Dennis entered the portal, Illinois was viewed as the heavy favorite. But it’s been a couple of weeks and he’s gone on several visits since then. If it’s not a sure bet anymore, they need to have a Plan B.
“Plan B” seems to be what the Illini has been doing this offseason. Star guard and leading scorer Terrence Shannon is still in the NBA Draft process and outside of four-star freshman commit Dravyn Gibbs-Lawhorn, there isn’t another ball-handler confirmed to be on the roster. If they were involved with Dennis, there’s no reason why they shouldn’t be interested in Pullin as well.
Indiana Hoosiers
The Hoosiers got a massive pickup a week ago, landing five-star combo forward prospect, Mackenzie Mgbako. But while the frontcourt is all but taken care of, there’s still a need in the backcourt for another perimeter starter. Xavier Johnson is back for a 6th-year but he’s been injury-prone and four-star freshman Gabe Cupps is the only other ball-handler on the roster.
It wasn’t for long but we saw that Johnson can play with another ball-handler in Jalen Hood-Schifino. Pullin isn’t the same kind of NBA prospect but he’s a more consistent offensive player and his shooting would be needed in case the frontcourt forwards can’t help with the spacing. The starting two-spot is open and Pullin could be the missing piece of a very good team.