Illinois Basketball 2024-2025 Scouting Reports: Kylan Boswell

The Arizona transfer guard – and Urbana-Champaign native – returns home with high expectations

Feb 4, 2024; Tucson, Arizona, USA; Arizona Wildcats guard Kylan Boswell (4) shoots a basket against the Stanford Cardinal during the second half at McKale Center. Mandatory Credit: Zachary BonDurant-Imagn Images / Zachary BonDurant-Imagn Images

Every day over the two weeks leading up to Illinois' Nov. 4 regular-season opener at Champaign's State Farm Center, Illinois on SI will share a scouting report for each Illini player listed on the team's official roster. Today, in the second of 14, we shine a light on guard Kylan Boswell.

Thursday: Jake Davis

More Illini scouting reports

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Kylan Boswell, 6-foot-2 guard

Where he's from

Originally from Urbana-Champaign, Boswell moved to California for high school and finished off with prep school in Phoenix. As the No. 4 point guard recruit in the class of 2023, Boswell reclassified up a year and began college in 2022 at the University of Arizona. After spending two seasons in Tucson, Boswell decided to close the circle and join his hometown Illini.

What he's done

After a solid freshman year that resulted in a Pac-12 All-Freshman honorable mention, Boswell made a leap as a sophomore. He started in 35 games and averaged 9.6 points and 3.6 assists on 37.9 percent shooting from three while tacking on a team-leading 50 steals.

Meet the Newcomer ➡️ Kylan Boswell#Illini | #HTTO | #EveryDayGuys pic.twitter.com/VnKmIskcVK

— Illinois Men's Basketball (@IlliniMBB) July 10, 2024

How he helps

He produces and wins. Boswell excelled as an 18-year-old lead guard in the Pac-12 – no small feat – and helped send Arizona to back-to-back No. 2 seeds in NCAA Tournament, bringing two years of high-level experience to Illinois. His ability to knock down the 3, facilitate the offense and create turnovers instantly makes the Illini backcourt more multi-dimensional.

What they're saying

One of the great appeals of Boswell is his versatility. With good size and shooting ability, he can play either guard spot and give coach Brad Underwood untold options – including the resurrection of Booty Ball. “We’re going to keep creating matchups and matchup differences," Underwood told the media in May. "And that means – Kylan’s a 40-plus-percent 3-point shooter – that may mean spacing him. That may mean Ben [Humrichous] on the ball or maybe even Tre [White] on the ball and – who knows? – maybe Carey [Booth] on the ball.”

What we expect

Expect Boswell to slide into a starting guard spot alongside Kasparas Jakucionis, the immensely talented freshman from Lithuania. Boswell described sharing the backcourt with Jakucionis at Big Ten Media Day, saying, “Playing on or off the ball is not a big deal for me at all. I mean, me and KJ play really well together.” With a wide skill set, Boswell will be asked to fit in and deliver value wherever the Illini need him, probably on a game-by-game (or even play-by-play) basis.

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