Transfer guard Vaaks chooses Illinois, agents say

Providence transfer Stefan Vaaks, one of the surprise freshmen in college basketball this season, has committed to Illinois, his agents at Excel Sports Management told ESPN on Sunday.

Vaaks was ranked as a top-10 transfer in ESPN's rankings.

A 6-foot-7 perimeter player from Estonia, Vaaks showed impressive playmaking and offensive versatility for his size during his lone season with the Friars. He averaged 15.8 points and 3.2 assists, shooting 35% from 3-point range.

Vaaks had a knack for having strong performances against Providence's toughest competition in Big East play. He had 23 points and 20 points in two of his games against St. John's and 25 points and 21 points in two games against Villanova, also going for 28 points about Butler in the Big East tournament. He scored in double-figures in all but two games this season.

Vaaks is Illinois' first addition since the Fighting Illini reached the Final Four earlier this month, and he'll help replace the starting backcourt of Kylan Boswell and Keaton Wagler. Boswell is out of eligibility, while Wagler -- a projected lottery pick -- declared for the NBA draft.

He's also the latest in a growing pipeline of players with Balkan backgrounds to Illinois. Brad Underwood had six players with ties to the region on this past season's roster: Andrej Stojakovic, Tomislav and Zvonimir Ivisic, David Mirkovic, Mihailo Petrovic and Toni Bilic. Petrovic and Bilic both entered the transfer portal last week.