After dabbling in both the transfer portal and the NBA Draft, Baylor forward Matthew Mayer announced on Friday he is transferring to Illinois for the upcoming 2022-23 basketball season. Mayer withdrew from the draft earlier in the month, signaling a potentially imminent transfer. He chose the Illini over North Carolina, Memphis and Texas Tech.
Mayer has one season of eligibility remaining after four seasons spent in Waco. He’ll be immediately eligible next season to play under coach Brad Underwood on a rebuilt Illini roster.
Mayer is coming off a career year with Baylor, averaging 9.8 points and 5.0 rebounds per game while starting all 33 games. In transferring to an Illinois team that is losing four starters, he should retain a starting role on a team that may have an expanded opportunity for him in the Big Ten.
Elsewhere in Big 12 transfer news, Iowa State star guard Tyrese Hunter, the reigning Big 12 Freshman of the Year, also announced on Friday he is transferring, with his move being cross-conference to Texas. Hunter will join returning starter Marcus Carr in Texas’ rebooted backcourt, in the process giving second-year coach Chris Beard one of the best at-the-point perimeter defenders in the country to build around.
The decisions from both Mayer and Hunter continue the talent drain out of the transfer portal as teams add to their rosters for the 2022-23 season heading into the summer. But even with many of the big-name transfers having announced their destinations already, some talented players remain available in the portal who could impact college basketball next season.
A few of them will have decisions to make over whether to stay in the draft or return to college basketball in the coming weeks. A.J. Green of Northern Iowa and Malachi Smith of Chattanooga are among the big dominoes yet to fall.
Once the deadline passes, the portal picture will become more clear and coaches…
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