As it turns out, perhaps Carey Booth should have stuck with the Notre Dame basketball program. It doesn’t appear as though the Illinois Fighting Illini were quite the greener pastures he might have hoped they were.
That’s evidenced by the fact that one day after the Illini’s season ended, Booth is in the portal for a second straight year. It’s not exactly a surprise that he’s looking for a new home, considering things didn’t seem to go anywhere near the way he thought they would when he first headed to the Big Ten power.
The former Notre Dame basketball star appeared in every game for the 2023-24 Irish and started 19 of them. For Illinois, he came off the bench in 21 games this season and didn't play at all in the Big Ten Tournament or NCAA Tournament. That alone might have signaled that he was one his way out.
Ex-Notre Dame basketball forward enters the portal for second consecutive year
Despite playing in 21 games, Booth's numbers took a significant slide from the season before. Most notably, his scoring average dipped from 6.4 to 1.2, and his rebounding average went from 4.3 to 1.0.
He also played just over 5 minutes per contest. This despite the former top prospect, who stands at 6’10” was considered a massive get for the Illini out of the portal.
One interesting tidbit about all of this is that Booth enters the portal just as forward Tae Davis makes his exit from the Notre Dame basketball team. One has to wonder if Micah Shrewsberry might not reach out to his former signee.