Tag: Illinois men’s basketball

Eric Musselman, USC earn statement victory in upset of Illinois

This is easily Eric Musselman’s biggest win at USC. Let’s see if the Trojans build on it.

Eric Musselman officially has his first signature victory at USC basketball. On Saturday, Musselman and the Trojans went into Champaign and stunned a top-15 Illinois team, 82-72. It was the first time the Trojans defeated a ranked conference opponent on the road since 2010.

What made the result even more stunning was that Illinois was coming off 30-plus-point wins over very good Oregon and Penn State teams within the past week. USC, on the other hand, entered the contest 1-3 in conference play, with the Trojans’ lone victory coming over a bad Washington team.

Prior to the game, ESPN’s win probability give Illinois a greater than 90 percent chance to win.

Junior Desmond Claude led the way for the Trojans with a 31-point effort. Redshirt freshman Wesley Yates III and redshirt senior Reshaun Agee both also finished in double figures.

USC still has a ways to go if it wants to seriously contend for an NCAA Tournament berth, but the upset dramatically changed the outlook of this season, and gave plenty of reason for optimism about the program moving forward.

The Trojans will look to continue their momentum when they return home to host Iowa on Tuesday.

Former four-star recruit with ties to Wisconsin basketball enters transfer portal

Former four-star recruit with ties to Wisconsin basketball enters transfer portal

Former four-star recruit and Duke Blue Devil Jaden Schutt entered the transfer portal on Monday.

The Badgers were in on Schutt during his high school process. Greg Gard’s program offered him on July 30, 2020. 

The Yorkville, Illinois native was ranked No. 78 nationally coming out of high school and landed as the No. 8 shooting guard in the class of 2022. Eighteen schools offered him during the process, including Illinois, Michigan State, Marquette, Florida, Xavier, Iowa and Wisconsin. 

During his senior year at Yorkville Christian High School, Schutt captained the Mustangs to the Class 1A state title in 2021-22 and earned 2022 Gatorade Player of the Year honors in Illinois. Schutt also averaged a stellar 24.6 points and 6.3 rebounds per game off 52% from the floor and 39% from deep.

The shooting guard averaged 2.1 points in 14 appearances as a freshman at Duke and even laced up for eight minutes of the team’s ACC Tournament quarterfinal game vs. Pittsburgh in 2023. He then exercised his redshirt season in 2023-24 after his sophomore campaign was cut short due to a left knee injury.

With guard A.J. Storr in the transfer portal, Wisconsin could certainly utilize a lengthy marksman to bolster its wing play. Schutt has previous ties to the program and could provide a much-needed boost.