Champaign, Illinois – Eleni is back in the transfer gate and landing another versatile long wing.
Matthew Mayer He announced Friday that he will be moving to Illinois after spending the past four years at Baylor. Mayer entered the NBA draft with the option to retain his collegiate eligibility and also entered the transfer gate before the May 1 deadline for immediate eligibility. Eleni chose over three other contestants: North Carolina, Texas Tech and Memphis.
Mayer is the third player to join Illinois through the transfer portal since January. Big man din dinga, who is also a transfer from Baylor, joined Illinois for the semester vacation in January, and signed winger Terrence Shannon Jr. on the Big Ten Tender of Financial Agreement earlier this month.
Mayer has been a regular fixture for Baylor the past two seasons, which included a 55-9 (27-5 Big 12) overall record for the Bears, two NCAA Championship No. 1 seeded and a 2021 NCAA Championship title.
During the Bears National Championship season in 2020-21, Mayer came off the bench in all 30 games, averaging 8.1 points, 3.8 rebounds and 1.2 steals while shooting 48.9% including 39.5% from three.
Last season, Mayer started all 33 games and averaged 9.8 points, 5.0 rebounds, 1.2 steals and 0.8 blocks while shooting 40.9% including 32.4% of three.
Illinois has two scholarships left open and is in the middle of undergoing a major overhaul of the list. Trent FraserAnd the Damonte Williams And the Alfonso Plummer Each of them exhausted their collective eligibility. Kofi Cockburn He is declared the NBA Draft for the third time and cannot withdraw from the draft process after entering three times. Both Austin Hutcherson And the Jacob Grandison They also announced the draft but did not announce their intentions for next season. Both have at least one year of eligibility remaining. Andrei Corbelo (St. John), Branden Podzemski (Santa Clara) Omar Payne (Jacksonville) and Benjamin Bosmans Verdonk (South Carolina) Each entered the NCAA transfer portal.
According to the 247Sports Composite Rankings, Team Illini ranks ninth in the county’s enlistment category, which consists of Sky Clark (No. 29), Ty Rodgers (No. 51), Jayden Epps (No. 68) and Sensor Harris (No. 110).
what do you mean: Illinois continues to have more time on the wing by adding Meyer, who is 6 feet 9 feet tall. Coach Brad Underwood His coaching staff is creating a versatile sports team that, in theory, will be highly interchangeable at each position. After years of playing with a dominant megaman—one of the best players in Illinois show history—and spinning crime around Cockburn, Illinois should play very differently next season. Mayer reinforces this and is a great opportunity for Illinois through the transit gate. He was, like Dainja, on the 2021 Baylor National Championship team and should help usher in a new era of basketball in Illinois.
Defensively, Mayer can switch and play multiple positions, which should fit right in with what Underwood wants for next season’s squad.
“There is a huge advantage in the big wings,” Underwood said last week when discussing Shannon’s addition. “We’ve been able to play a little bit smaller. We got rid of that with Kofi. Take a look at my team Stephen F. Austin, my team at Oklahoma State, we had big wingers and they were great bouncers and very versatile. If you don’t have 7ft 300 in the middle, You better know how to bounce back and do a few things. The diversity that he brings with what we do on the defensive side really excites me.”