Ahmad Starks Is Transferring To Illinois

Remember on Saturday morning when I wrote that we'd likely be learning the fate of Oregon State transfer Ahmad Starks soon? Yeah?

WELL BEHOLD MY POWERS IN ACTION.

Oregon State junior point guard Ahmad Starks said Tuesday he will transfer to Illinois.

Starks, a 5-foot-9, 165-pound guard, decided to leave Oregon State to be closer to his ailing grandmother in Chicago. He will seek a family hardship waiver from the NCAA and could be eligible next season. He also considered transferring to Bradley.

Starks, who attended Whitney Young High School in Chicago, started 73 games in three seasons at Oregon State. He averaged 10.4 points, 2.0 rebounds, 2.3 assists and 1.0 steal as a junior. He is Oregon State's career leader in 3-pointers made and shot 64-of-162 from 3-point range last season.

And, of course, by my powers I mean Scott Powers of ESPNChicago.com.

Now, as you can see in that excerpt, what we don't know is whether or not Starks will be eligible to play in the 2013 season, as the Illini are still waiting to hear back on his hardship waiver. Still, you have to think that John Groce and his staff are optimistic about the chances of Starks being able to play in 2013.

After all, that's when he'd be of more help to the Illini, as next year's team will be a bit freshmen-heavy, and while those freshmen may turn out to be pretty good players, the Big Ten is no place to be relying on five freshmen to contribute .

If Starks doesn't get the waiver, well, that leaves the Illini with only one available scholarship in the 2014 recruiting class, and it would leave the Illini with a whole lot of similar guards and not a lot of depth in the frontcourt.

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