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Baylor Bears guard Matthew Mayer, who has been part of the program’s ascension to championship status under head coach Scott Drew, announced on his social media he is transferring to Illinois to join Brad Underwood’s program. This is a huge pickup for Illinois, especially with Kofi Cockburn likely to stay in the 2022 NBA draft.
Matthew Mayer announces he is headed to Illinois. The Illini are gonna look completely different next season. So much versatility.
— Jeff Goodman (@GoodmanHoops) May 27, 2022
Mayer hasn’t been dropping insane numbers at Baylor but he was a key rotation player on a championship team and a starter for last year’s No. 1 seed. The guard has a lot of potential as a shooter, even if the percentages are a bit inconsistent. His greatest asset is his physical profile. At 6-9, he can shoot over smaller guards while also having the speed to drive by bigger forwards. Mayer could take a massive scoring jump if he’s given a bigger role in Underwood’s system.
The Illini are listed at +4000 to win the 2022-23 national title per DraftKings Sportsbook.