Illinois freshman guard Brandin Podziemski has entered the transfer portal, he announced via social media on Tuesday afternoon. He averaged 1.4 points, 0.9 rebounds and 0.3 assists in his lone season in Champaign.

“Thank you so much for taking a kid in from Greenfield Wisconsin and giving him an opportunity of a lifetime,” Podziemski wrote in an Instagram post on Tuesday. “I’d like to thank my teammates, coaches and fans for the support I was given all year long. Illinois will always be a special place to be but with that being said I would like to officially announce that I will be entering the transfer portal with 3 years of eligibility remaining.”

Podziemski did not see much time as a freshman, making an appearance in 16 of the Illini’s 33 games while averaging 4.3 minutes.

He recorded a career-high seven points in consecutive games, which came against Saint Francis (Pa.) and Missouri on Dec. 18 and Dec. 22, respectively.

The Wisconsin native also scored five points at Northwestern on Jan. 29 in a narrow three-point Illinois victory, coming off the bench in the second half to spark a struggling offense.

Though Podziemski signed with Illinois, he also picked up offers from Arizona State, Boise State, DePaul, Kansas, Kansas State, Kentucky, Loyola Chicago, Marquette, Miami, Nebraska, Rice, Vanderbilt, Wake Forest and Wisconsin-Milwaukee.

Podziemski is the second Illinois guard to enter the transfer portal after sophomore Andre Curbelo did so on March 28 and is the third member of the team in total after junior center Omar Payne announced his intention to transfer on April 2. 

The Illini have a strong incoming freshman class that features three guards in Jayden Epps, Sencire Harris and Skyy Clark, while the program also has current freshmen RJ Melendez and Luke Goode at that position.

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