Coastal Carolina forward Sam McLaurin tells WPDE Sports that he will transfer to the University of Illinois for his final year of NCAA eligibility.  McLaurin visited Drake University over the weekend and arrived in Champaign, Illinois on Wednesday for a visit of the Illini campus.  McLaurin will play for new Illini head coach John Groce who was hired on March 28th to replace the fired Bruce Weber.

  McLaurin announced on April 12th that he wanted to transfer from Coastal Carolina to pursue graduate school and begin work on a law degree.  Because McLaurin is set to get his undergraduate degree from CCU, he will not have to sit out a year and can begin play in the 2012-13 season for the Illini.  Illinois was 17-15 last season after spending part of the year ranked in the top 25.

  McLaurin averaged 9.7 points and 7.6 rebounds a game this past season for the Chanticleers, but those numbers were deceiving.  Big South teams often packed the paint to try and slow down McLaurin.  He shined against LSU posting 13 points, 16 rebounds and 3 blocked shots in the upset win and his final game as a Chanticleer featured a 20 point performance against Old Dominion in the CollegeInsider.com tournament.

  McLaurin played six games in the 2008/09 season, his freshman year at Coastal, before a knee injury sidelined him for the rest of the year and gave him a medical redshirt.  McLaurin spent the next three years starting for coach Cliff Ellis.  McLaurin heard from a long list of schools during his lastest recruitment including Baylor, SMU, UCLA, Georgia Tech, NC State and Drake. 

Sam McLaurin Highlight Reel 

Sam McLaurin talks about decision to transfer