Wisconsin guard John Blackwell remains one of the hottest commodities in the transfer portal, as he is still available to teams seeking a chance at the 6’4″ scorer who averaged 19.1 points, 5.1 rebounds, 2.3 assists, and 1.1 steals in 34 games this past season.
On Friday, Blackwell’s agents, Todd Ramasar and Alexis Liatsos of Life Sports, provided NBA draft analyst Jonathan Givony with the list of teams in contention for the guard’s commitment to play next season. The teams are Alabama, Arizona, Duke, Illinois, Louisville, and UCLA.
Duke, Illinois Are Leaders To Land John Blackwell in Transfer Portal
College basketball insider Jeff Goodman named Duke and Illinois as the frontrunners for Blackwell during “The Field of 68: After Dark.”
Goodman said Duke and Illinois are leading the race to sign Blackwell, citing their NCAA Tournament consistency and NIL resources to attract a proven scorer.
“I think Duke and Illinois are probably the leaders for Blackwell,” Goodman told Martin. “(Illinois’) got some money, they got momentum, and they got an offense right now. You could sell that offense.”
Martin seemed to reinforce Goodman’s point by emphasizing the two teams’ performance in recent NCAA Tournaments and the players’ production for their respective teams.
“It’s very interesting because you could just see in that Illinois offense, that’s pretty exciting,” said Martin, who cited Keaton Wagler’s rise from obscurity at the start of the 2025-26 college basketball season to a projected NBA lottery selection this summer.
He pointed out that if Blackwell wants a program where he can be fully maximized as a player, it has to be Illinois. Still, Martin also noted the Duke mystique, which has consistently made the Blue Devils a national championship contender in recent years.
The analyst noted that it will be interesting to see where Blackwell ends up by the end of the transfer portal period, and that it will be huge for the team that secures his commitment.
On Tuesday, Blackwell began his visit to UCLA, and he hopes to make a decision soon. He is set to meet Bruins coach Mick Cronin and the team’s coaching staff as they bid to secure the explosive scorer who could help the team’s chances next season.
A potential move to UCLA could prompt a negative reaction from Wisconsin fans, who had hoped Blackwell would end up in a conference other than the Big Ten. If the Bruins, or even Illinois (another Big Ten team), sign the guard, Wisconsin could face Blackwell and his new team at least once during conference play.
