Illinois guard Tre White enters NCAA Transfer Portal

Illinois guard Tre White has entered the NCAA transfer portal, according to On3’s Pete Nakos. It will be the fourth time he has done so in as many seasons, also playing for USC and Louisville prior to the Fighting Illini.

White appeared in 32 games with 31 starts in his lone season in Champaign. He averaged 10.5 points and 5.5 rebounds across 23.3 minutes per game this past season as Illinois advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament before losing to Kentucky.

White played high school basketball at Prolific Prep in Los Angeles, where he was a four-star prospect. He ranked as the No. 38 overall player and No. 13 small forward in the 2022 cycle according to the On3 Industry Ranking, a weighted average that utilizes all four major recruiting media companies.

The 6-foot-7 wing committed to USC out of high school over offers from Kansas, LSU, Texas Tech and more. He went on to earn Pac-12 All-Freshman honors in 2022-23 after starting 26 of 29 games to average 9.0 points and 5.1 rebounds.

But the Trojans had a coaching change the following season as Eric Musselman replace Andy Enfield. As a result, White decided to transfer to Louisville and play for Kenny Payne. That didn’t quite work out as the Cardinals finished 8-24 and Payne was fired at the end of the season.

Tre White still put up career-high numbers in Louisville that season to average 12.3 points and 5.9 rebounds per game. That gave him the opportunity to play for the Fighting Illini, but he’s now chosen to move on once again after another stellar year.

The college basketball transfer portal officially opened for business on Monday, March 24, and will close 30 days later on Tuesday, April 22. As of March 26, more than 1,000 players had already entered their names.

Last spring alone, 1,962 Division I players tested the portal waters. Based on the early numbers from this year, even more could follow. For the first time in history, more than half of the points scored in college basketball were scored by players from the transfer portal, not high school, in the 2024-25 season.

In data gathered over the first two years with transfer windows, the NCAA found most athletes enter the portal within the first four weeks of the portal opening. The study showed that 73% of men’s and women’s basketball undergraduate athletes entered during the first four weeks. That increased to 82% for men and 86% for women in 2024.

To keep up with the latest players on the move, check out On3’s Transfer Portal wire. The On3 Transfer Portal Instagram account and Twitter account are excellent resources to stay up to date with the latest moves.