Transfer portal big man commits to the Illinois basketball program

The Illinois basketball team received a massive boost from the transfer portal on Tuesday night.

Through nearly a month of the offseason, the transfer portal has been a wild ride for the Illini. The festivities started with Dain Dainja transferring out. Since then, two more Illinois players – Sencire Harris and Amani Hansberry – have also departed.

Brad Underwood has done a great job combating the outgoing players. Entering the week, the Illini had secured commitments from Tre White, Jake Davis, and Kylan Boswell. That group got a little bit bigger in the past 24 hours too.

On Tuesday night, Carey Booth took to social media to announce that he was committing to Illinois. We needed some serious frontcourt help, and the answer is in the form of a former top-70 recruit.

Coming out of Brewster Academy in New Hampshire, the 6-foot-10, 203-pound forward was a four-star recruit who was ranked as the No. 55 player in the class of 2023. He was also the No. 13 power forward in the country and the No. 2 player coming out of New Hampshire.

Despite a lot of big-time programs pursuing Booth, he decided to commit to Notre Dame. In the lone season in South Bend, Booth averaged 6.4 points and 4.3 rebounds per contest. After playing in 33 games and averaging 19.9 minutes per game, Booth decided to find greener pastures. He is now in Champaign.

First off, I love the size that Booth brings to the table. Illinois is a fairly small team, and Booth will step in as the tallest player on the roster from day one.

Booth has a willingness to shoot from all levels of the floor too. He isn’t just a paint player. This kid can stretch a floor and pull the opposing big man out of the paint. That is going to be an asset to slashers like White.

The athletic ability and movement are going to be nice to see in the Illinois lineup. Booth can fly around the court and get to the rim with his size and athletic ability. He doesn’t stand around either. Booth is always on the move, which gets him open looks.

When I look at Booth, I see a ton of potential. He isn’t one of these players who hasn’t gotten his career off the ground, so he is looking for a new home. This kid has the potential to not only be a good player, but I think he could blossom into a first-round NBA Draft pick.