CHAMPAIGN — Fresh off of the program's first postseason championship, the inaugural WBIT, the Illinois women's basketball coaching staff is now turning its attention to the transfer portal.

Illinois has four open scholarships this offseason to build around a strong returning core of Makira Cook, Genesis Bryant, Kendall Bostic, Adalia McKenzie, Gretchen Dolan and Shay Bollin, each fixtures in the rotation this season. Illinois also returns Brynn Shoup-Hill and Kam'Ren Rhodes. 

Illini head coach Shauna Green and her coaching staff aren't wasting time at the start of portal season. Green said Illinois plans to host an official visitor on Tuesday, and the Illini are expected to be active in the portal to try to build off of the postseason championship, the second consecutive winning season and the momentum of a program trending upward.

"You go from season right into recruiting," Green said. "I'm really excited about the people we have interested and that we have lined up for visits. We'll definitely address those needs."

Illinois is likely to add at least one post player to replace Camille Hobby, an NC State transfer who played her final season of eligibility for Illinois and helped propel the team to a strong second half of the season. Illinois could be in the mix for multiple frontcourt pieces with size. The Illini could also add a versatile guard to replace Jada Peebles, who is out of eligibility and missed most of the season with a torn Achilles tendon.

A post presence is the most pressing need for Illinois for the second consecutive season. Bostic's return and her ability to play the four gives the Illini an all-league player but pairing Hobby with a rim-protecting five is an appealing thought for the staff. Plus, the sell is pretty good. Hobby played in all 34 games and started 22 for the Illini last season while averaging 9.3 points and 4.9 rebounds in 21.7 minutes.

"The number one priority is obviously a post player and a five player," Green said on the Illini Inquirer Podcast. "It's what we needed last year and we went out and got Hobby, who really had an amazing year with us and made such a huge impact, especially in Big Ten play as she was comfortable in our system. We need to go out and get someone who can come in. Obviously, the sell is there's a lot of minutes there. Obviously, we have a freshman coming in [Hayven Smith], but as we all know it's hard as a freshman to come in — I don't care how good of a player you are — just the adjustment period. We'll use that transfer portal to go out and try to get some experience in that position."

Illinois also enters this offseason having seen Bostic excel at the four spot rather than as a traditional back-to-the-basket five, which she primarily played during Green's first season. Bostic looked comfortable on both ends of the floor stepping out of the post and grew as a shooter offensively to leave room in the paint for Hobby, who could also step out and shoot.

All of that factors into the portal recruiting process of replacing Hobby. Green said Illinois potentially could add two posts via the portal.

"We're also going to look for some size," Green said. "I really would like a rim protector down there with some true size and ability to still move and be agile and play in transition. The teams that went far had a true big rim protector. You see it on the women's side and you see it on the men's side. There are a couple different options out there that we're looking at. It's nice for us to know we can play KB at multiple positions now and she can guard those."

Given Illinois has four players entering their final season of eligibility, the staff could opt to add players with multiple years of eligibility to also help bridge the gap to recent recruiting classes, which includes five-star wing Berry Wallace.

Green indicated Illinois could add a guard in the transfer portal to lessen the workload of Cook and Bryant, who both averaged more than 34 minutes last season.

"We have some scholarships open, so we could even take a couple fives that may help fill that area," Green said. "Then probably another guard in some aspect, someone who could give some spot minutes or even make an impact if we could have someone one through three. That'd be huge, and is more versatile and can play someone with Makira and Gen. They're old now. They're fifth years. If we could spot a couple minutes here or there, there's a lot of games they didn't come off the floor. We'll address that. We have some scholarships and that's a nice thing to have right now."