Illini Guard Brandin Podziemski Enters Transfer Portal

After one season at Illinois, Brandin Podziemski has reportedly entered the transfer portal as the former Wisconsin Mr. Basketball selection is the third Illini to do so.

By Matt Stevens - Illini Guys Staff Writer

April 12, 2022

CHAMPAIGN -- Brandin Podziemski has entered the transfer portal.
The former Wisconsin Mr. Basketball selection out of St. John’s Military Academy in Delafield has placed his name in the transfer portal. 247Sports.com basketball analyst Travis Branham was the first to report this news on social media citing anonymous sources. Multiple sources close to Podziemski have confirmed the news to IlliniGuys.com Director of Recruiting Kedric Prince.
Podziemski, a 6-foot-5 guard, played in 16 games on the season, averaging 1.4 points and 0.9 rebounds in just 66 total minutes of action during the 2021-22 season. Andre Curbelo. Podziemski’s reported move makes him the third player on the 2021-22 Illini roster to enter the transfer portal after Andre Curbelo and Omar Payne previously announced their intention to leave the program as well.
Illinois’ 2022 recruiting class includes the verbal commitment of five-star guard Skyy Clark (who will reportedly sign Wednesday morning in Orlando) along with signed National Letter-of-Intent paperwork from four-star guard Jayden Epps and four-star guard Sencire Harris.
In his first season of college basketball, Podziemski played sparingly in just half of the Illini’s 20 conference games and failed to record a single minute of game action in the Big Ten Tournament or NCAA Tournament. Podziemski, who chose Illinois over scholarship offers from Kansas, Kentucky, Miami (Fla.), Arizona State and DePaul, had five points and an assist in six minutes off the bench to help Illinois achieve a comeback win at Northwestern on Jan. 29. Podziemski was slated to be the only returnee from last season’s Illini backcourt after Trent Frazier, Da’Monte Williams, Alfonso Plummer and Austin Hutcherson officially exhausted all of their college eligibility.
Podziemski won 2021 Wisconsin Mr. Basketball and 2021 Wisconsin Gatorade Player of the Year after averaging 35.1 points, 5.6 assists and four steals as a senior at St. John's Military Academy.
Without knowing the official status of Kofi Cockburn as of today, Podziemski’s move creates a situation where Illinois has two open scholarships for the upcoming 2022-23 season. In order to follow all the offseason news involving Illinois basketball, IlliniGuys.com highly suggests you subscribe to get the updates from veteran reporter Brad Sturdy and Prince.

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