NCAA Basketball: Analyzing the 4 contenders for Toledo transfer Rayj Dennis

Rayj Dennis transfer option – Illinois Fighting Illini

It makes perfect sense why Illinois would be viewed as a favorite to land the Toledo transfer. They’re a local program to allow Dennis to play close to home and they’re a notable Big Ten program that has a hole at the point guard position.

The two freshmen that played the position last season (Jayden Epps and Skyy Clark) have transferred out, leaving just an incoming four-star ball-handler, Dravyn Gibbs-Lawhorn. He has potential but considering how the freshman experiment worked out just recently, look for Coach Brad Underwood to go the more experience route.

So why wouldn’t Dennis just simply commit to the Illini? Well one, with NIL in the picture now, it doesn’t make sense to just immediately join a team days after entering the portal. But a more practical reason is that the roster isn’t clear at the moment, as leading scorer Terrence Shannon Jr. and starting forward Coleman Hawkins are both in the NBA Draft process. If Shannon leaves, Illinois will need incoming transfer commits (Marcus Domask and Justin Harmon) to have a major impact.

If both are back, then the addition of Dennis would make them a top-10 caliber roster and allow Shannon to play off the ball. He’s one of the top transfers left in the portal and will give a massive boost to Illinois and any of the other three options.