Illinois Basketball: Alfonso Plummer not ranked in the top 100 impactful newcomers

There is a lot to be excited about if you are an Illinois basketball fan.

The Illini enter the 2021-22 campaign as the No. 11 team in the country, according to the AP Top 25. Illinois is also loaded with talent from the big man Kofi Cockburn to the incoming freshmen in Luke Goode, Brandin Podziemski, and RJ Melendez.

Those three newcomers will make an impact on the Illini in year one, but none of them made Jeff Borzello’s top 100 impactful newcomers for the upcoming season. I expected this because they weren’t the best of the best according to the national rankings.

But there was one player that Borzello did keep off of his top 100 newcomers list who should have been, arguably, in the top 50, let alone the top 100. Who was that player?

Alfonso Plummer.

Plummer has a shot to be one of the best players on the Illinois basketball team.

I am not going to break down the list because it is ESPN+ exclusive content, but how in the world does Borzello leave Plummer off the top 100 most impactful newcomers list? This kid put up big stats with Utah and has shown he can fill up the stat sheet with the Illini in exhibition games.

In his final season with the Utes, Plummer ended up averaging 13.6 points, 2.2 rebounds, and 1.0 assists per game while shooting 44.1% from the field and 38.3% from three-point range. He was also taking 6.7 three-pointers per game while shooting that high of a percentage.

Those are great numbers, and now Plummer is bringing that talent to the Illini. The regular season hasn’t started yet, but if you have watched any of the Illinois exhibition games, you would see that Plummer is going to fit in well with this Illini crew.

Plummer isn’t afraid to shoot the ball. He has the confidence of an elite NBA player, and his shot is pretty spot-on as well. In the final preseason game, Plummer ended up with 16 points, two rebounds, and one assist while hitting 3-of-7 from three-point range.

Illinois is going to need a source of scoring this season after Ayo Dosunmu departed the program in the summer. I think the Illini have found that scoring source with Plummer joining the program.

As I scroll through the list, I keep finding it harder and harder to believe that this wasn’t just a mistake by Borzello. Plummer should easily be in the top 100 impactful newcomers for the 2021-22 season.