Lock Mamba

Illinois has done a great job retaining players this offseason as Kylan Boswell, Tomislav Ivisic, Jake Davis and potentially Ben Humrichous are all back. #TheRetention has been on full display (besides Morez Johnson Jr.), but the Illini still need to land a big fish to make it a successful offseason.

Josh Dix considered Illinois as an option but ultimately chose Creighton to stay close to home. Dix is ranked #18 in the current 247 Sports transfer portal rankings and would have been an instant starter on this team. Ian Jackson, who is a former 5-star recruit and is ranked #7 on 247 Sports, had a zoom call with the Illini staff but seems to be out of their price range. Jackson is the type of player that I would pay big money for, but the staff must see differently.

Has Illinois spent even close to their budget? I don’t think so. Zvonimir Ivisic and David Mirkovic cost money of course but nowhere near the amount Josh Dix was requesting. It is rumored that Kylan Boswell is being brought back for less than 1.3 million dollars (steal) and both euro bigs most likely combined to cost less than Morez would have needed as well. There seems to still be money left to be spent on a star…

It is time for Illinois to pay whatever it takes to get Dame Sarr. 2-3 millon dollars is worth it to get your star guard. Sarr is on FC Barcelona and just played for Team World in the Nike Hoop Summit. He finished with 17 points on 5 of 9 shooting from the field and 6 of 6 from the charity stripe. The Italian native proved that he belonged and is one of the best international prospects out there.

At 6’6, Sarr can fill right in at the shooting guard position and be a playmaking type player like what we saw in Kasparas Jakucionis last season. Jakucionis and Sarr share the same agent, and KJ was in attendance on Saturday night to watch his former teammate play. It makes too much sense for the staff to get this done, no matter what the cost is.