Illinois Coach Underwood Excited About Baylor Ex Mayer's Addition

Former Baylor Bears forward recently withdrew from NBA Draft, will transfer to Illinois for final year of eligibility

Put Illinois coach Brad Underwood at the top of the list of people excited about the addition of former Baylor Bears forward Matthew Mayer.

Mayer is slated to join the Illinois basketball program in July.

New #Illini Matthew Mayer won't arrive at Illinois until July as he finishes up school at Baylor. Underwood says they will play more up-tempo with him:

"His versatility excites me, he can play 1-5. He's an elite defender...and he's got a bravado, he's a got a swag about him" pic.twitter.com/JXeumAU23j

— Bret Beherns (@BretBeherns) June 15, 2022

Mayer made his decision to transfer in late May.

Instead of dipping his name into the 2022 NBA Draft, Mayer will be returning to play college basketball.

Once he completes his summer school classes in July on the Waco, Texas campus, the former Bears forward will be transferring from Baylor to Illinois for his final year of eligibility.

“I don’t have a mullet anymore, so it might be professional Matt now,” Mayer said on the Matt Mosley Show on KRZI ESPN Central Texas.

Mayer had recently cut off his trademark mullet in preparation for the NBA Draft.

Now, he’ll spend his fifth and final year of college eligibility playing in the Big Ten Conference.

“Illinois ended up being the place for me,” Mayer said. “I wanted to go to a different conference. I obviously didn’t want to disrespect Coach Drew or Baylor in any way because I have nothing but respect for everybody over there.”

According to reports, Mayer had already received a blessing of sorts from the Bears coaching staff to transfer after his last round of classes at Baylor.

For Mayer, he’s just excited to have finally made his decision on where to finish playing college hoops.

“Illinois, they got everything,” Mayer said. “I was just actually in Illinois for a month doing the pre-draft stuff, so I know a lot about the state. They got great facilities.

“I know the NIL is good up there, and we’ve got a team that I think could really shock some people. It just looked like an awesome decision for me.”

Mayer, at 6-9 and 225-pounds, was an integral part of Baylor’s 2021 national championship team.

Last season, he started all 33 contests and averaged 9.8 points and 5.0 rebounds per game.

Mayer joins former Baylor teammate Dain Danja as a transfer to Illinois, with both Bears slated to be on the team’s roster for the 2022-23 season.

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