INDIANAPOLIS, INDIANA - MARCH 16: John Blackwell #25 of the Wisconsin Badgers drives to the basket against Nimari Burnett #4 of the Michigan Wolverines during the first half in the Big Ten men's basketball tournament championship at Gainbridge Fieldhouse on March 16, 2025 in Indianapolis, Indiana. (Photo by Michael Reaves/Getty Images) | Getty Images It’s been quite a week for Illinois Basketball. Five key contributors announcing they will return for the 2026-27 year. And it was capped off on Sunday with a report from On3 that Illinois is out of the John Blackwell sweepstakes.

The high-level scorer from the Badgers is one of the gems of the transfer portal, but with Illinois committing plenty of its resources to Mirk, Andrej, the Ivisi, and Jake Davis, there may not be a ton left in the bag for Blackwell. On3 reports that Blackwell is down to UCLA, Duke and Louisville. View LinkBest of luck to him. Still a little work to do to nail down the roster, but looks like BU & Co. will have a top-5 preseason team in the fall.