Underwood Announces Three Additions for 2024-25
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – Head coach Brad Underwood announced Wednesday thatCarey Booth, Kylan Boswell, and Tre White have signed Big Ten Tenders of Financial Aid with the University of Illinois and will join the Fighting Illini program.
Carey Booth
Booth, a 6-foot-10 inch, 203-pound forward from Englewood, Colorado, comes to Illinois with three seasons of eligibility following his freshman year at Notre Dame in which he played in all 33 games with 19 starts.
"We're very excited about adding Carey, who can multiple play positions for us," Underwood said. "He can play 3, 4, 5; he has great size, length, and athleticism. He can shoot it, runs the floor, just a great young talent who will continue to develop. He is a good fit in our system, someone who can really stretch the defense."
During his time with the Fighting Irish, Booth ranked fifth on the team in scoring at 6.4 points per game and was the team's fourth-leading rebounder at 4.3 boards per contest while pulling down a team-best 3.6 defensive rebounds per game. He led Notre Dame with 21 blocks and ranked third on the team with 35 three-pointers, hitting nearly 30% of his shots from beyond the arc (35-118).
Booth reached double-figures in scoring seven times, including a career-high 20 points in a win over Western Carolina in just his second collegiate game in November. He recorded 15 games with five or more rebounds and pulled down a career-high 13 boards (three offensive) at Boston College in January.
Booth began his prep career at Cherry Creek High School in Greenwood Village, Colorado, before attending prep school at Brewster Academy in New Hampshire. He averaged 10.6 points and 7.7 rebounds in 22 games as a senior, leading Brewster to a 35-6 record. Booth ranked nationally as the No. 49 overall recruit in the Class of 2023, and No. 11 at his position, coming out of high school. His father Calvin Booth was an 11-year NBA veteran and former Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year who now serves as the General Manager of the Denver Nuggets.
Kylan Boswell
Boswell, a 6-foot-2-inch, 200-pound guard returns home to Champaign-Urbana where he grew up before moving to California before high school. He reclassified and graduated following his junior season at Compass Prep in Phoenix, Ariz., and will be a 19-year-old junior at Illinois after two years at the University of Arizona.
"We know Kylan well, a local product who we recruited very hard the first time around," Underwood said. "He's young by age, but he's experienced and mature in terms of games and minutes played as part of Arizona's great success these last two years, and his best basketball is in front of him. He will benefit from being in the strength and conditioning program with Adam Fletcher. He's a great shooter, handles it, and defends. I'm excited about Kylan in our style and system; he will really flourish."
During his time in Tucson, Boswell helped the Wildcats to a 55-16 record, the 2022-23 Pac-12 regular-season championship, 2024 Pac-12 Tournament title, back-to-back No. 2 seeds in the NCAA Tournament, and a 2024 Sweet 16 appearance. Boswell played in all 71 games and recorded 508 points, 139 rebounds, and 186 assists during his two seasons with Arizona.
As a freshman, Boswell made an immediate impact by averaging 4.6 points, 1.6 rebounds and 1.6 assists in 15 minutes per game. He earned Pac-12 All-Freshman Team honorable mention accolades.
Boswell increased his production dramatically in Year 2, averaging 9.6 points, 2.3 rebounds, and 3.6 assists per contest. He started 35 of 36 games played as a sophom*ore, scored in double-figures 20 times, and ranked among the Pac-12 leaders in assists per game (3.6; sixth in Pac-12), assist-to-turnover ratio (2.13; third), steals per game (1.39; 10th), and 3-pointers made (66; 10th). Boswell scored a career-high 20 points with eight assists in the NCAA Tournament first-round win over Long Beach State, and set his career high with nine assists in a victory over Wisconsin.
During the summer of 2023 Boswell, a five-star recruit and the No. 4-rated point guard in his class coming out of high school, averaged 6.4 points, 2.3 assists and 1.6 steals in seven games for USA Basketball at the U19 World Cup in Hungary. In 2021 at the FIBA Americas U16 Championship in Mexico, Boswell averaged 9.2 points, 3.7 rebounds and 4.5 assist to help lead Team USA to the gold medal.
Tre White
White, a 6-foot-7-inch, 205-pound guard from Dallas, Texas, joins the Illini with two seasons of collegiate eligibility after spending his freshman season at USC in 2022-23 before playing for Louisville as a sophom*ore in 2023-24.
"Tre is another player who is great for our style and how we like to play," Underwood said. "I love versatility, and he is a multi-positional, do-it-all player who can score and attack the defense in a variety of ways. He is a high IQ player who had a great freshman season at USC and played in the NCAA Tournament, and then played a key role this past season at Louisville."
White averaged 31 minutes per game, playing in 29 contests with 26 starts for the Cardinals last season. He ranked fourth on the team in scoring (12.3 ppg) and second in rebounding (5.9 rpg), while shooting 46% from the floor, 30% from 3-point range, and 75% from the free-throw line. White scored in double figures 22 times with four double-doubles, including a 29-point, 14-rebound effort at Clemson (1/30/24) in which he set career-high marks for both points and rebounds.
As a freshman at USC, White averaged 9.1 points and 5.1 rebounds in 29 games with 26 starts. He was named to the Pac-12 All-Freshman team and helped the Trojans to a 22-win season and NCAA Tournament berth. He scored in double-figures 11 times, including a season-high 22 points vs. Washington (2/4/23).
A graduate of Prolific Prep in Napa, Calif. – the same program that produced Illini Coleman Hawkins – White averaged 18.2 points, 5.8 rebounds and 4.3 assists as a senior to lead Prolific to a 26-6 record and semifinal appearance in the GEICO High School Basketball National Tournament.
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