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Baylor G Matthew Mayer announces he’s transferring to Illinois

The Illini are landing a versatile forward from the portal.

By Chinmay Vaidya
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Baylor v North Carolina
Matthew Mayer of the Baylor Bears handles the ball against the North Carolina Tar Heels during the second round of the 2022 NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament held at Dickies Arena on March 19, 2022 in Fort Worth, Texas.
Photo by Andy Hancock/NCAA Photos via Getty Images

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.

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.

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