Blackwell's Transfer: Illinois or Top-25 Teams?

0:00On April 19, John Blackwell, the six-foot-four-gar from Wisconsin, hit the transfer portal two weeks back, and Illinois looked like the top dog too. Land him. But things shifted quick when Illinois-wing Andrej Stoja Kovic said he's coming back for the 2026–2027 season. Earlier this week, Blackwell locked in visits to Duke and Louisville after already checking out UCLA. No sign of champagne on his schedule, which has folks scratching their heads about whether Illinois cooled on him or the other way around. Coaches like Brad Underwood probably banked on Stoja Kovic staying, and even after grabbing Providence's Stefan Vox, they kept pushing for Blackwell. From a pure basketball angle, it feels off for him to skip Illinois, where he'd run point and lead a squat loaded for a title run. Duke's back court is stacked with guys like Caden Booser returning, Caleb Foster likely back, and Topra Crute Darren Ribby Jr. coming in. Louisville's got Jackson Shellstad at point, Adrian Willey stepping up, and Carter Knox eating minutes.

1:03Illinois offers Blackwell real control as the main ball handler. Any spot he picks, Duke, Louisville, or UCLA, puts him on a top 25 team that could crack the top 10 with him. Still, passing on Illinois leaves you wondering about that dream lineup that might have dominated college hoops.