John Blackwell is one of the most coveted transfers in the portal, yet his price tag seems to be extremely high. According to Travis Banham of 24/7 Sports, Blackwell is down to only two schools: Duke and Illinois. It's almost as bad a list as you can get as a Wisconsin fan. Sure, there would be other annoying options, but not ones that can actually pay the money that Blackwell is after.
Wisconsin fans reacted to this list about as you would expect. It's almost as if Blackwell and Boyd's motto last season of "Be the villain" is not being applied fully to Blackwell's life and his approach to the Badgers. Let's list a few reasons this is annoying for Badger fans...First, Wisconsin fans would love to root for Blackwell in his next stop, but not at either of these spots.
Second, Blackwell transferring to Illinois would be so lame, as it's another Big Ten program, and Illinois is one of the teams Badger fans love to hate. Annoying fanbase, especially in hoops. For Duke, it's a team that you love to see lose. The perpetual villain in college basketball.
John Blackwell is down to Duke and Illinois and neither option is good as a Wisconsin fan
If Wisconsin fans were going to choose, they'd pick Duke over Illinois, but neither is fun. In a vacuum, both decisions make sense for Blackwell, but both would be hard to swallow as a Badger fan.
bro picked enemy 1 and 2 https://t.co/gwJJ1Wd9fq
— Ryan (@BrewPack8) April 10, 2026
My first time ever rooting for Duke https://t.co/qiOgcgUj3E
— Scary Alvarez (@barryisthedon) April 10, 2026
Related: Wisconsin and Greg Gard enter the race for touted transfer visiting this weekend
Blackwell is a bit of a legacy player for Illinois, as his dad played for the Fighting Illini. So, you can understand it if you take out the fact that the Illini are a Big Ten school with an annoying fanbase. That's one of the major reasons it's tough to swallow.
Duke doesn't get much better, though a little, because Blackwell is out of the Big Ten if he goes there. It is also one of his better chances of winning a title. Though lately Duke has choked whenever they've gotten close. So, it's not a sure thing.
Yet, justifying his decisions doesn't it make it any easier or more likely that fans will root for John Blackwell during the rest of his college tenure. As fans, we can revisit this later in his career depending on where he ends up after college.