'Leap of faith' leads Ben Humrichous to Illinois

May 14—Ben Humrichous took a chance when he decided to leave Huntington University after three seasons. Potentially a big one.

Humrichous didn't have a guarantee he would find what he was searching for in a shot at the Division I level. The 2022-23 season was his best at Huntington — an NAIA program located between Indianapolis and Fort Wayne, Ind. — and even then he was only a Second-Team All-Crossroads League selection.

Humrichous had plenty of interest once it was known he was available. But nothing at the Division I level until Evansville reached out. The Purple Aces wound up as Humrichous' only Division I offer.

"You're sitting in the portal waiting for the right people to call," Humrichous said. "I would be lying if I told you I wasn't nervous at all during that time. What you're going to start to learn about me is my faith is incredibly important. Along this journey, I know God has a will and has a plan for my life.

"I didn't want to sell that short. A year ago, I had no guarantees about Division I but, I believed in the work I put in and believed what God had for my life. It was a big leap of faith to chase that dream."

Humrichous is chasing bigger dreams now. The 6-foot-9 forward entered the transfer portal after one season at Evansville to an entirely different level of recruitment. A whole stratosphere of interested teams.

Louisville and Villanova pushed hard. Illinois won out. Humrichous intends to join the Illini in June, but until then, he's going through the NBA draft process with two workouts under his belt and at least three more with different organizations to come.

"A year ago, if you would have told me I would play in the Big Ten and doing the NBA (workouts) chasing that dream, I would have thought you were crazy," Humrichous told The News-Gazette on Monday afternoon. "I would have never counted it out — I know God does crazy things and works in crazy ways — but it would have been pretty crazy about a year ago. Through hard work and trusting in God's will, I'm here today. It's really a dream that any kid has and something I'm definitely going to cherish and never take for granted the opportunities I'm being presented with."

A hidden gemBrad Underwood readily admits he hadn't even heard the name Ben Humrichous at this point a year ago. The Huntington transfer wasn't on Illinois' radar, and the Illini coach gave his Evansville counterpart, David Ragland, due recognition for seeing potential in the versatile forward out of Tipton, Ind.

What Humrichous did at Evansville this past season, Underwood said, caught everyone's attention. The Purple Aces won their first six games, and Humrichous was at the nexus of that success. He averaged 19 points, five rebounds and 2.3 assists, shot 48.5 percent from three-point range and went off for 28 and 27 points back-to-back in wins against Chattanooga and Southeast Missouri State.

"It was kind of that breakthrough that I could really do this and really chase what I wanted to do," Humrichous said.

A foot injury limited Humrichous to 24 games in his lone season at Evansville. A stress reaction that cost him eight games in the middle of the season and then three more late in the year, which included the Purple Aces' CBI run.

Humrichous said he's not having any problems with his foot now. Injury maintenance was part of his availability during the season at Evansville to make sure it didn't become a bigger issue. He's fully healthy as he trains in Indianapolis as a home base of sorts in between trips for pre-draft workouts this month.

Missing a chunk of the 2023-24 season didn't deter Humrichous' suitors once he entered the portal in late March. The first two days after he was officially in the portal featured a seemingly endless stream of coaching staffs trying to make contact. Humrichous said he had to compartmentalize his day. Set aside specific times for workouts, for his family and to return all those calls and texts.

"It was fun — I wasn't in that position a year ago — but it takes a toll on your body and your mind," Humrichous said. "Pretty crazy and a little overwhelming at times. ... Illinois kind of hit me right after the craziness."

Finding a new homeHumrichous grew up in Big Ten country. That gave him a base level of familiarity with Illinois while Underwood and his coaching staff put a recruiting pitch together. The Illini checked several boxes for Humrichous, including the big ones — style of play, the role he'd fill and a history of winning.

"You admire their professionalism, but also the grittiness behind them," Humrichous said. "They have a culture of winning, a culture of professionalism and a culture of guys that work hard."

How Illinois won 29 games, a Big Ten tournament title and reached the Elite Eight for the first time in nearly two decades also resonated with Humrichous. Playing in a system fueled by a top-five offense was intriguing.

"They play such an NBA style of offense," Humrichous said. "They space the floor, and I'll be playing around really good guards. With the spacing, also the ability to put the ball on the deck with big driving lanes was very enticing. ... They play such a modern, analytical style of offense that it was really enticing as I look to step to the NBA."

Humrichous finished his lone season at Evansville as the Purple Aces' scoring leader. He wound up on the All-Missouri Valley Conference Newcomer Team after averaging 14.7 points and 4.7 rebounds and shooting 41.4 percent from three-point range. Doing all that at 6-9 checked multiple boxes for Underwood as he rebuilt the Illinois roster.

"Fit what we were setting out to accomplish in the portal, which is positional size and guys who can shoot it — especially along the frontcourt spots," the Illini coach said of Humrichous. "I think he has a chance to be an outstanding, outstanding player for us. ... He could do everything from play the 5 to be able to do some of the things that we did with Marcus (Domask) this year in post-ups.

"He's got incredible range. The one thing that always translates no matter what level you're at is shooting. He does that an extremely high level. I think he will be one of the outstanding shooters that I've coached and maybe the best one I've seen in my time here."

Next in line?Domask going from one of the top players in the MVC at Southern Illinois to First Team All-Big Ten in his one season at Illinois was also a selling point in the Illini's recruitment of Humrichous. It wasn't just Domask either. The general success transfers have had in Champaign the last three seasons — Domask, Terrence Shannon Jr., Matthew Mayer and Alfonso Plummer all earned various Big Ten honors — resonated with the Evansville transfer.

Humrichous saw a path he, too, could follow. That the proven history of transfers at Illinois in the last few seasons of the Underwood era — particularly with Domask making the same MVC-to-Big Ten leap — was "incredibly enticing."

"To be able to have Marcus and to be able to see that success and see his efficiency numbers rise through the roof as he takes a jump up was a huge piece of recruiting material we took great value in," Underwood said. "Our success in the portal has been well-documented, and we sure used that. It's also the style of play that's allowed that. Trusting those guys. Being honest with those guys in the portal what we expect of them. I think that's been a piece of the success as well."