For the most part, Illinois basketball fans shouldn’t get upset when a player decides to enter the transfer portal.<\/p>\n
I think the only exception to the rule is when a talented Illini <\/a>player who is getting plenty of minutes and starts, then decides to transfer out to another Big Ten program, and then proceeds to win a national championship. Not trying to be too specific.<\/p>\n Advertisement<\/p>\n A few weeks ago, Brandon Lee made the understandable decision to bolt the Illinois program and find greener pastures. This decision didn’t come as a surprise, but it only took him about three weeks to find a landing spot.<\/p>\n On Friday, Sam Kayser of League Ready reported that Lee has decided to pick James Madison as his landing spot.<\/p>\n This is a great decision for Lee. The 6-foot-4, 180-pound freshman is coming off a season where he played 18 games<\/a> and didn’t see a start. He logged 4.1 minutes per contest and averaged 1.7 points each night.<\/p>\n With what Illinois has coming back for the 2026-27 season, and some of the quality additions, there was not going to be room for Lee<\/a> to see starts. His playing time would have been extremely limited, too.<\/p>\n Advertisement<\/p>\n Brandon Lee found a great landing spot after leaving the Illinois basketball program<\/p>\n I am sure numerous teams were eyeing Lee, but the decision to pick the Dukes is a good one. This is a program where Lee can start from day one.<\/p>\n James Madison is losing their top two guards from last season. Cliff Davis and Bradley Douglas averaged 15.6 points and 12.1 points per game, respectively, in 2025-26. That is a lot of missing production.<\/p>\n