Illinois Basketball: Why Kylan Boswell is the most important team transfer for 2024-25
By Joey Loose
The level of basketball at Illinois has been significantly better in recent years, with head coach Brad Underwood making sure of that with his recruiting and coaching. The Fighting Illini are a few months removed from a run to the Elite Eight, their first in nearly two decades. This program certainly soaked in an incredible season with a less than memorable ending, but what exactly does the future hold?
It’s a vastly different future, with star scorer Terrence Shannon Jr. off to the NBA, Coleman Hawkins at Kansas State, and a number of other departures. There will be no Marcus Domask or Quincy Guerrier on the court while several other players also transferred out of the program. Now a junior, Ty Rodgers is the best returning player and has greater responsibility, though Underwood’s coaching staff surrounded him with talent in the offseason.
Aside from a stellar freshmen class headlined by Will Riley, the Fighting Illini landed a few significant names in the Transfer Portal. It’ll be a much bolstered frontcourt with the additions of power forwards Carey Booth from Notre Dame and Ben Humrichous out of Evansville. Former Louisville forward Tre White and Mercer freshman Jake Davis also join the fold, but there’s one other name that certainly stands out the most.
Kylan Boswell is a native of Champaign and returns to his hometown after spending his first two seasons at Arizona. After solid production off the bench as a true freshman, Boswell stepped into a starting role with the Wildcats this past season, averaging 9.6 points and 3.6 assists per game while helping lead Arizona to the Sweet Sixteen. He also made 38% of his 3-pointers and showed plenty of growth.
Things will look almost unrecognizable on the court for the Fighting Illini, but throwing a talent like Boswell into the mix is a great building block. He was the starting point guard of an offense that finished 3rd in the nation in points per game and has every chance to take another big step forward as a junior with these Illini. Boswell showed plenty of life as a long-range shooter and Illinois certainly could use that after what they lost in the offseason.
Underwood and his staff are leaning heavily on these freshmen and transfers, but Boswell has a certain experience to him that none of these other additions can boast. He’s played at college basketball’s biggest stage and has that experience that the freshmen don’t yet have. There may be a bit of transition for him and this team, but a sharpshooting point guard who can run a high-intensity offense is a huge asset for this program.
Offseason grades for each ACC team. Offseason grades for each ACC team. dark. Next
How things come together for the Fighting Illini will be interesting to see, especially with virtually all semblance of those recent successful teams gone from Champaign. Does Boswell become that asset that leads the program to another deep postseason run? Did this Illinois team add enough talent and experience in the rotation to contend in the newly-grown Big Ten?