NCAA Basketball: Top 25 offseason winners entering 2024-25 season

No. 15 - Illinois Fighting Illini: Late additions to make an immediate impact

After losing nearly 86% of its returning minutes—including the likes of Terrance Shannon Jr., Coleman Hawkins Marcus Domask, and Quincy Guerrier—Brad Underwood aggressively attacked the transfer portal and the grassroots circuit.  

In the spring, Illinois’ once-depleted roster began to take shape, landing notable transfer portal additions in Champaign native Kylan Boswell (Arizona), Tre White (Louisville), Ben Humrichous (Evansville), Carey Booth (Notre Dame) and Jake Davis (Mercer). As late May began to creep around the corner, Brad Underwood was still looking to add the final touches to his 2024-25 roster. In other words, he was not done yet.

Kasparas Jakucionis -- widely considered among the top international prospects in the 2025 NBA Draft -- committed in late May. This came three weeks after the commitment of seven-footer Tomislav Ivisic. The final piece to its 2024-25 roster was five-star wing Will Riley, who committed to the Illini in late June after reclassifying to the class of 2024. Riley is the highest-ranked recruit in the 247Sports era.

As stated before, it is not a rebuild in Champaign. It is a reload. These late-offseason additions expect to keep Illinois in the race for a Big Ten title, making an immediate impact on the Fighting Illini entering the 2024-25 season.