PEORIA — The University of Illinois men’s basketball program continued its offseason of change Tuesday, losing an assistant coach and gaining a 6-foot-1 forward.
The Illini sealed the deal with sophomore forward Carey Booth, who arrived from Notre Dame through the NCAA transfer portal.
Illinois assistant coach Chester FrazierMeanwhile, he left for a new job.
He is West Virginia’s new associate head coach, becoming the second head coach hired to former Drake coach Darian DeVries’ staff.
Frazier played for Illinois and has 12 years of college coaching experience in the Big 10, Big 12 and ACC.
Booth Brings Illini and NBA Lineage
The Illini’s newest transfer, Booth, is the son of former NBA player and current Denver Nuggets general manager Calvin Booth.
Carey Booth was Prospect ranked #65 by 247Sports in the NCAA transfer portal and No. 7 among offensive linemen.
Opinions vary, as ESPN ranked him in a group of players outside the top 100, and The Athletic placed him at 90th.
Booth, a four-star high school recruit, averaged 6.4 points and 4.3 rebounds in 19 games as a freshman in 2023-24 for Notre Dame, which used him as a stretch 4.
He made more 3s (118) than 2s (74) and shot just 29.7% from long range. This could herald a move to the center.
Dave Eminian is a sports columnist for the Journal Star and covers Bradley, Rivermen and Chiefs men’s basketball. He writes the Cleve In The Eve sports column for pjstar.com. He can be reached at 686-3206 or deminian@pjstar.com. Follow him on X.com @icetimecleve.
This article originally appeared in the Journal Star: Illini men gain 6-foot boost in transfer portal, bid farewell to assistant coach
