Boswell 'coming home' to Illinois (2024)

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CHAMPAIGN — Kylan Boswell headed west after starring at Urbana Middle School for the exposure playing first in the greater Los Angeles area and then at one of the more notable prep schools in Arizona could provide.

It worked.

The Champaign native won a CIF Open Division state championship as a sophom*ore in California with Centennial — knocking off powerhouse Sierra Canyon in the title game — before moving on to Compass Prep (Ariz.) to play a national schedule. He earned five-star status on the recruiting trail.

Even won a gold medal playing for Team USA at the 2021 FIBA U16 Americas Championship.

Boswell then chose to stay out west when he reclassified up to the Class of 2022 — holding on to his five-star ranking — and committed to Arizona.

He played a key role off the bench as a 17-year-old freshman for an NCAA tournament team and started 35 of 36 games in an equally as crowded backcourt for the last-ever Pac-12 champions that reached the Sweet 16.

But Boswell will return home to continue his college career.

The 6-foot-2, 200-pound point guard, who has 71 games under his belt and won’t turn 19 until Thursday, committed to Illinois late Sunday morning after an official visit.

“It’s been pretty fun so far coming back home, getting to see family, getting to talk to all the coaching and see some of the guys,” Boswell told The News-Gazette. “I’m really excited to come here. The whole ‘hometown hero’ thing has been a big pitch from them. It will be nice to come back, reset my focus and try to get something done with this team.

“Being gone for a long time, my perspective and mentality on the city has changed a lot. Growing up and being there for a long time, you kind of want to expand and look at new places. It’s nice to come back to home sometimes and reevaluate.”

The recruiting process this time around for Boswell was different. He’d been on the Illinois campus (and many others) as a prospective recruit before. Two seasons of college basketball experience — restarting the recruiting process as a transfer — changed the dynamic.

“This time around, we wanted to do a lot less as far as helping him make a decision,” Brandon Boswell, Kylan’s dad, said. “We wanted him to make sure he was comfortable with whatever decision he was going to make because at the end of the day he’s got to get the work done. We’re just glad he made a decision that he was comfortable with and that he’s happy about it.

“I just think (Illinois) is a good space for him to reinvent himself in a way. Making sure he’s ready to play every game, every day. That’s kind of what the coaches’ pitch was to him. Come out here and be leader. You’re older now. You’ve been through a lot on the court. You know you’ve got a lot of experience.”

While the recruiting process as a transfer changed, what didn’t was Illinois’ interest. The Illini pursued Boswell hard as a high school recruit. Even when he told Brad Underwood and his staff he was picking Arizona, a solid relationship was maintained.

That Illinois was the first program to reach out once Boswell was in the portal was meaningful.

“I would say how devoted the coaching staff was to me trying to get here,” Boswell said was a selling point in his transfer recruitment. “Immediately when I hit the portal, they were one of the first teams to jump on and try to talk to me. I had a feeling before I entered the portal of teams I was looking at, and I really liked what Illinois and what they were doing over there. When they were the first team to be on it, it kind of gave me a realization of how serious they were still.”

Boswell will be the 14th Champaign native to suit up for Illinois.

He’ll be the first since Centennial grad Michael Finke from 2016-18 and seventh in the last two decades along with Finke, Clayton Jones, Rayvonte Rice, Trent Meacham, Steve Holdren and Bubba Chisholm. The others were Robert McKay, Ted Beach, Rodney Fletcher, Bob Shapland, P.J. Bowman, David Freeman and Nate Mast.

Sunday’s commitment from Boswell gives Illinois three incoming transfers for the 2024-25 season. Mercer’s Jake Davis was the first to commit on April 1, and Louisville’s Tre White, who also played at Southern California, committed Tuesday. Davis has three seasons of eligibility remaining, while White and Boswell each have two.

Illinois is still active in the transfer portal. Even with three transfer commitments, the Illini still have two open scholarships for the 2024-25 season after Dain Dainja’s transfer to Memphis and the decommitment of 2024 recruit Jase Butler.

“So far, we’ve got some good talent,” Boswell said, while noting he shared his visit with Notre Dame transfer Carey Booth. The 6-10 forward, who was a four-star recruit, started 19 of 33 games for the Irish.

“We’re going to get a good team together, for sure,” Boswell continued. “Right now, I’ve got to go do my (recruiting) pitches.”