Mount Vernon’s Keaton Kutcher transferring to play basketball at Illinois

CEDAR RAPIDS — It’s trading up, even if he has to pay for school right now. Even if his parents have to pay for school right now, to be more accurate.

“I got them two years, so they can’t complain too much,” Keaton Kutcher said.

The former all-stater from Mount Vernon has announced he will join the University of Illinois basketball program as a preferred walk-on. The 6-foot-2 junior guard spent two years at South Dakota.

For a kid from the Midwest, playing in the Big Ten Conference is something.

“It’s a dream come true, for sure,” Kutcher said. “Every kid who grows up (around here) wants to play at Iowa, wants to play at Illinois, Minnesota. It’s the place to be, man, so that part is a dream come true. Now that I’m older and grown up, I just realize how good of an opportunity this actually is. It’s a whole lot more than just playing on a basketball court. I’m going to become a lot better person there, have some good opportunities after I’m done playing. I’m really excited.”

Kutcher began his freshman season of 2021-22 as a redshirt but that was pulled off about midway through and he averaged 10 minutes of playing time and 2.5 points in 11 games. Last season, under a new head coach, he played in 14 games.

The 6-foot-2 shooter decided to enter the transfer portal and was contacted by a couple of mid-major programs. But his father, David, played for Illinois Coach Brad Underwood when Underwood was head coach at Western Illinois, and that was his ‘in’ to joining the Fighting Illini.

Kutcher said he debated going to Illinois as a walk-on out of high school.

“I knew kind of right away that Illinois might be an opportunity for me now, somewhere that I wanted to be, just because of my dad’s connection with Coach Underwood. Coach Underwood has been kind of like family to us for a really long time,” he said. “I just did some thinking about it, and figured out that’s where I wanted to be. I think it’s a great opportunity, so I’m excited about it.”

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