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Published Apr 1, 2024
Illini forward Dain Dainja hits the portal
Doug Bucshon  •  OrangeandBlueNews
Publisher

The revolving door never stops in college basketball. One out and one in. After adding Mercer transfer Jake Davis on Monday. the Illini will lose power forward Dain Dainja to the Transfer Portal.

Dainja enters the portal two days after Illinois bowed out of the NCAA Tournament with a loss to No. 1 UConn in the Elite 8

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Dainja move isn't It's not entirely surprising. Until a late season surge, Dainja saw his role diminished this season, as he average 6.1 points and 3.6 rebounds while logging 10.6 minutes per game.

The highpoint of the season didn't come until the first round of the NCAA Tournament against Morehead State when Dainja scored 21 points and grabbed 8 rebounds.

Dainja will be a two-time transfer. After a redshirt season at Baylor, he appeared in the Bears' first three games in 2021-22 before electing to transfer.

His stint at Illinois was promising early on. He was Illinois' No. 4 scorer and No. 2 rebounder in 2022-23, averaging 9.5 points and 5.5 rebounds per game.

Still, with Illinois playing more of a 4/5-out spread attack, Dainja couldn't carve out a niche or find consistent playing time, though he showed flashes.

His future role at Illinois was further complicated with the addition of Top 30 recruit Morez Johnson in the 2024 class, a power forward who also does much of his work in the paint.

Highly regarded coming out of Park Center High School in the Minneapolis area, Dainja was a four-star prospect and No. 104 in the class of 2019.

He chose Baylor over offers from Florida, Illinois, Iowa, Iowa State, Kansas State, Marquette, Minnesota, Northwestern, Pittsburgh, Texas A&M, West Virginia, and others.

Illinois will now likely look to fill a scholarship spot with a stretch 4 transfer. In addition to Dainja's departure, the Illini lose starting forwards Coleman Hawkins and Quincy Guerrier.

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