The transfer portal has its hands on every program in college sports, and the Illinois basketball team is no exception.

While it has been a wild offseason for the Illini that has featured four players enter the transfer portal, this isn’t anything new to the program. Transfers have plagued Illinois for years.

Some transfers hit differently, though. While losing any player to the transfer portal is never fun, some are more impactful than others.

The 1990s were a weird time for the Illinois basketball program. The team was going through changes, but we were still able to land some talented players. Awvee Storey was one of the top players the program was able to land.

At 6-foot-6, 222 pounds, Storey started out at Proviso West High School in Illinois but finished his final year with New Hampton Prep. With New Hampton, he averaged 30 points and 12 rebounds per game.

Illinois was able to get Storey into the program for the 1997-98 season. The Illini finished 23-10 overall and 13-3 in the Big Ten and made it to the second round of the NCAA tournament. Storey also had a good freshman campaign, averaging 3.2 points and 1.9 rebounds per game.

After his freshman campaign, Storey hit the transfer market. He would end up picking Arizona State as his landing spot. In the three seasons Storey was with the Sun Devils, he averaged 10.1 points, 7.1 rebounds, and 2.9 assists per game.

Storey went on to play three seasons in the NBA, and he is now working with the Chicago Sky of the WNBA.

Could you just imagine those early 2000s teams with a wing like Storey? We were an Elite 8 program then, so who knows how far he could have helped propel this program.