Dain Dainja and Sencire Harris both played college basketball at Illinois from 2022-24. They both decided to transfer at the end of last season and ultimately landed at Memphis and West Virginia, respectively.
Neither played left their former program because of money, or so they say. So then what was it?!
Harris was rated as a four-star prospect in the college basketball recruiting Class of 2022. He was the No. 11-ranked player at his position and a top-100 player overall. Dainja was a four-star prospect in the Class of 2021. He was the No. 18-ranked player at his position and fell just outside of the top-100 overall.
Dainja initially began his career at Baylor and transferred to Illinois as a sophomore. Harris committed to Illinois right out of high school. They played together during the 2022-23 season. The former averaged 9.5 points and 5.5 rebounds in 20.6 minutes per game. The latter averaged 3.7 points and 2.1 rebounds in 14.5 minutes per game.
Both guys stuck around for the 2023-24 season. However, they did not play nearly as many minutes, or any at all.
Harris requested a redshirt prior to his sophomore year and sat out all 38 games. At no point did he practice or check into the lineup. Dainja saw his minutes sliced in half. He played only 10.7 minutes per game and made only three starts— compared to 21 starts the year prior.
As soon as the season ended, both players hit the transfer portal. Dain Dainja played 27.1 minutes per game at Memphis during this most recent/current season. Sencire Harris played 26.9 minutes at West Virginia. (He is going to transfer again.)
In the current era of college basketball, and college sports in general, athletes often transfer because of NIL opportunities. They want to get paid more to play somewhere else.
According to Sencire Harris and Dain Dainja, finances were not a factor in their decisions to leave.
Literally. https://t.co/TlTfPdFgxG
— Dain Dainja (@DDainja) March 30, 2025
If money was not the reason for their departure(s) from Illinois, I would imagine that it was because of playing time. Neither guy was getting on the court as much as they expected. That is the obvious answer.
Or is it something else? Their posts on social media create all kinds of room for speculation. Were they asked to leave by head coach Brad Underwood or his son Tyler? Did they decide to leave because of a conflict with the coaching staff?
There is always more to the story with this kind of post. The drama is so unnecessary. Players who try to say something profound without actually saying anything at all add so much fuel to a fire that does not need to exist. Unless there is really something deeper going on with the basketball program at Illinois…
The post Illinois Basketball Transfers Spark Unnecessary Drama With Cryptic Posts About NIL Money appeared first on BroBible.
Illinois Basketball Transfers Spark Unnecessary Drama With Cryptic Posts About NIL Money
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