CHAMPAIGN— Chris Tamas maintained throughout the offseason he wouldn't use one of his open scholarships and add a transfer simply to fill a roster spot.
Yes, Illinois had a need at middle blocker with just two returning for the 2018 season in All-American Ali Bastianelli and Blayke Hranicka after Tyanna Omazic transferred to Missouri. But Tamas wasn't interested in depth for depth's sake. Any new player had to be able to compete at the Big Ten level and be a fit for the program.
Tamas didn't stop looking, though. In a fairly whirlwind process, Tamas officially added University of the Pacific transfer Ashlyn Fleming less than a week before the start of training camp and just 23 days before the Sept.