Illini Women's Basketball

#131      

Mexi-Ken

M
Mexi-Ken
Dan said:
https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1782859305340821867
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KB you have been my favorite player since you came to ILLINOIS!! Thanks for being a class act and beautiful person!! Also for sticking with the ILLINI Women’s program. And bringing it back to prominence with your teammates and Coach Green (The Best Ladies Coach ILLINOIS Has Ever Had) Good Luck next year and I already ready for the season to start!!
 
#146      

Champaign Toast

C
Fan since Kiwane Garris
Champaign Toast
Time will tell how much Jasmine Brown-Hagger contributes in games in 2024-5.

She could, however, as a rising sophomore figure in nicely to the future of the program. In 2025-6, after Cook, Bryant, and McKenzie have exhausted eligibility, there will be a triumvirate of juniors in Dolan, Allen, and Brown-Hagger who would be our vets in the backcourt. Add to that a hopefully exciting class of '25 signees and a sophomore wing in Berry Wallace.

OF COURSE, the transfer portal can be a major chaos agent blowing up any kind of projection one might make. For the sake of enjoying discourse on Illinois Loyalty, I think it's perfectly fine that we post projections regardless.

I took a dive into some of Brown-Hagger's video and stats from senior year of high school at Example Academy and frosh year at Mississippi State. Brown-Hagger has some similarities to Adalia McKenzie as a strong-bodied wing a couple inches short of 6 feet tall. She was neither a lights-out shooter nor a key ballhandler last year at Mississippi State or in high school; but she is athletic and can make an energy play, like getting an offensive rebound. She's also got a sweet mid-range fadeaway. She might learn to be exceptionally crafty with her positioning and anticipation to get the most out of every possession. I can't say if Brown-Hagger will be as productive as McKenzie at the same age or ever. I just notice similarities in how each of them have played up till now. We'll see how each continues to develop!

Brown-Hagger's best game this past season was against Georgia Tech in the first round of the WBIT, where she scored 17 points with 5 rebounds, 4 assists, and 2 steals in 24 minutes. It was one of two games in which she scored in double figures, the other being a December game against Mississippi Valley State University.
 
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#149      

Champaign Toast

C
Fan since Kiwane Garris
Champaign Toast
Below is my updated list of bigs who remain in the transfer portal and stand out to me.

Player's height, 2023-4 school and class year, and points/rebounds/blocks averages are listed.

I looked for players listed at 6’3” and taller that had some kind of production last year. A number of players have ties to Illinois, to our coaching staff, or to players on our roster.

I don't have any special insight into who is being targeted by the Illini staff, who has visited or will visit.

Some of the below probably are not true center defenders. For example, Cameron Williams is more of a forward, but has a local tie, so stands out in that respect. I’d be happy pairing a very good, athletic stretch forward with Bostic in small ball lineups, but will echo the constant refrain that we regardless will need someone who is a viable match up option against the true centers that we will face.

It has been noted that Kiki Iriafen and Raegen Beers have issued “do not contact” notices and thus likely already know their destinations (probably not us). Still, they obviously stand out.

It won’t be easy to land targets. Shauna Green said last offseason that it is always a competitive market for transfer portal bigs. Per her words, every program wants a quality big from the portal.

List:
*Kiki Iriafen - 6’3” Stanford (JR) averaged 19 points, 11 assists, and 0.6 blocks per game
*Raegen Beers - 6’4” Oregon State (SO) 18/10/1.3
*Janiah Barker - 6’4” Texas A&M (SO) 12/8/0.7. Athletic inside/outside game. Played with Cori Allen at Montverde.
*Timea Gardiner - 6’3” Oregon State (SO) 12/7/0.5
*Maryam Dauda - 6’4” Arkansas (SO) 10/6/2.2
*Amari DeBerry - 6’6” UCONN (JR) 1/1/0.3 former McDonald’s All American from same high school as Gretchen Dolan.
*Natalija Marshall 6’5” Notre Dame (JR) 5/4/1 Played substantial minutes.
*Maya Peat - 6’6” Arkansas Pine Bluff (GR) 11/6/1.3
*Tenin Magassa - 6’5” Rhode Island (SR) 7/5/2 from France. Started career at Dayton.
*Kyla Oldacre - 6’6” Miami, FL (SO) 5/4/1 from southwest Ohio. Had a scholarship offer in high school from Green, then at Dayton. Played 16 minutes per game for a team that was ranked during the year.
*Malea Williams - 6’4” Cincinnati (SR) 8/6/1
*Isnelle Natabou - 6’5” Iowa State (JR) 6/5/0.3. Natabou stood out to me last offseason when she was in the portal coming off two productive years at Sacramento State. At ISU, she played limited minutes behind honorable mention All American, Audi Crooks.
*Elle Evans - 6’3” North Dakota St (SO) 16/5/1 from Edwardsville, IL
*Cameron Williams - 6’3” Michigan (SR) 7/5/0 from Chicago
*Lety Vasconcelos - 6’7” Baylor (FR) 1/2/0.4 from Brazil. Played with Cori Allen at Montverde.
 
#150      

Luwdoo

L
Luwdoo
Champaign Toast said:
Below is my updated list of bigs who remain in the transfer portal and stand out to me.

Player's height, 2023-4 school and class year, and points/rebounds/blocks averages are listed.

I looked for players listed at 6’3” and taller that had some kind of production last year. A number of players have ties to Illinois, to our coaching staff, or to players on our roster.

I don't have any special insight into who is being targeted by the Illini staff, who has visited or will visit.

Some of the below probably are not true center defenders. For example, Cameron Williams is more of a forward, but has a local tie, so stands out in that respect. I’d be happy pairing a very good, athletic stretch forward with Bostic in small ball lineups, but will echo the constant refrain that we regardless will need someone who is a viable match up option against the true centers that we will face.

It has been noted that Kiki Iriafen and Raegen Beers have issued “do not contact” notices and thus likely already know their destinations (probably not us). Still, they obviously stand out.

It won’t be easy to land targets. Shauna Green said last offseason that it is always a competitive market for transfer portal bigs. Per her words, every program wants a quality big from the portal.

List:
*Kiki Iriafen - 6’3” Stanford (JR) averaged 19 points, 11 assists, and 0.6 blocks per game
*Raegen Beers - 6’4” Oregon State (SO) 18/10/1.3
*Janiah Barker - 6’4” Texas A&M (SO) 12/8/0.7. Athletic inside/outside game. Played with Cori Allen at Montverde.
*Timea Gardiner - 6’3” Oregon State (SO) 12/7/0.5
*Maryam Dauda - 6’4” Arkansas (SO) 10/6/2.2
*Amari DeBerry - 6’6” UCONN (JR) 1/1/0.3 former McDonald’s All American from same high school as Gretchen Dolan.
*Natalija Marshall 6’5” Notre Dame (JR) 5/4/1 Played substantial minutes.
*Maya Peat - 6’6” Arkansas Pine Bluff (GR) 11/6/1.3
*Tenin Magassa - 6’5” Rhode Island (SR) 7/5/2 from France. Started career at Dayton.
*Kyla Oldacre - 6’6” Miami, FL (SO) 5/4/1 from southwest Ohio.nen Had a scholarship offer in high school from Green, then at Dayton. Played 16 minutes per game for a team that was ranked during the year.
*Malea Williams - 6’4” Cincinnati (SR) 8/6/1
*Isnelle Natabou - 6’5” Iowa State (JR) 6/5/0.3. Natabou stood out to me last offseason when she was in the portal coming off two productive years at Sacramento State. At ISU, she played limited minutes behind honorable mention All American, Audi Crooks.
*Elle Evans - 6’3” North Dakota St (SO) 16/5/1 from Edwardsville, IL
*Cameron Williams - 6’3” Michigan (SR) 7/5/0 from Chicago
*Lety Vasconcelos - 6’7” Baylor (FR) 1/2/0.4 from Brazil. Played with Cori Allen at Montverde.
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Britney Anderson was asst coach at Stanford with Kiki Iriafen. Wouldn’t that be nice!