Chester Frazier is leaving Brad Underwood’s staff at Illinois to become an assistant coach for West Virginia after three years in Champaign according to sources close to the team. Frazier has been an assistant coach for the Illini since the 2021-22 season and previously coached at Kansas State and Virginia Tech.
Frazier has been a strong recruiter for Illinois, bringing in recent talent like redshirt sophomore guard Sencire Harris and rising sophomore forward Amani Hansberry. This departure was not entirely unexpected for the Illini due to rumors around the coaching staff and recent decommit Jase Butler.
Frazier’s relationship with several players was notable, and similar to Butler, multiple sources around the program have forecasted Hansberry’s departure as well. Both are Baltimore natives; Frazier was a major reason Hansberry left the East Coast.
Before entering the coaching field, Frazier played four seasons for Illinois men’s basketball, from 2005 to 2009. The guard earned Big Ten All-Defensive Team honors in 2007 and 2009 and joined the Illini as a defensive-minded assistant. He also served as a graduate assistant during the 2010-11 season in between the two years he played professionally overseas.
Illinois now has a coaching vacancy and three open scholarships (or more, depending on if any current players decide to transfer) to fill before the 2024-25 season begins.
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