Indy Illini Fan recently posted information about three players in three different posts: Puff Johnson (Penn State), Alec Millender (IU Indianapolis), and Jalen Cox (Colgate). [Re Millender, Indy added in response to another post that Millender "would be a perfect add IMO."]
First of all, do these posts by Indy indicate that there is real Illini interest in these 3 players as possible transfers? Or is he indicating that the Illini should be interested?
Secondly, will both AJ Redd and Blake Fagbemi be scholarship players this coming season?
Next, does this Illini "interest" in potentially adding another transfer mean that the Staff is now sure that Will Riley will NOT be returning next season?
Regarding the above 3 potential transfers, is there anything new floating around about them and their possible recruitment by Illinois?
Puff Johnson has been discussed previously in this thread. The big question about him seems to be whether the NCAA has granted him an additional year of eligibility. (A lesser question might be whether the Illini could then "afford" to pay Johnson what he's asking for?) I've stated before that Johnson, a 6'8" 210-pound SF/SG, would be a nice addition to the Illini roster for the 25-26 season. He has size, athleticism, versatility, and experience.
Alec Millender is a 6'1" 185-pound Sr G from IU Indianapolis. He averaged 8.2/1.8/3.7 while shooting 46.3/43.5/78.9 (in 30.4 MIN/G) this past season. Millender was born in Chicago, IL. He has good shooting numbers for a short guard, and decent assist numbers (in approx. 30 min/g of pt), but I wonder how well he could defend taller BIG Ten guards? If the Illini think that Boswell is not a true PG, that he's more of a Combo Guard, then adding a player like Millender as a backup PG behind Mihailo Petrovic would probably be a good idea.
Jalen Cox is a 6'3" 165-pound Soph G from Colgate. He averaged 11.9/4.4/3.9 (in 28.9 MIN/G) while shooting 50.4/29.4/77.5 this past season. Originally from LA, Cox is only a Soph, and he had good numbers for playing 28.9 min/g last season, except that he shot only 29.4% on 3-pointers. (But note that Cox shot 39.4% on 3s in his freshman year at Colgate!) Cox averaged slightly more assists per game than Millender in 24-25, in slightly less minutes per game than Millender, and Cox (2 inches taller than Millender!) arguably played against better competition at Colgate than Millender did for IUI. Plus, new Illinois Asst. Coach Crocker would give us an "in" with Jalen Cox if we really want to add him as a transfer. I think that Cox could provide very good depth to the Illini by backing up both Petrovic and Boswell next season.
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