Kylan Boswell Scouting Report: Illinois Basketball 2025-2026

Every weekday leading up to Illinois' Nov. 3 regular-season opener at Champaign's State Farm Center, Illinois on SI will share a scouting report for each Illini player on the team's official roster. Today, in the first of 14, we shine a light on guard Kylan Boswell. Find our scouting reports of other Illinois players (as they're added) by searching in your favorite browser or clicking in our projected depth chart.

Kylan Boswell | 6-foot-2 guard | senior | No. 4

Where is Kylan Boswell from?

A Champaign native who finished attended high school in California and prep school in Phoenix, Boswell played his first two seasons of college ball at Arizona, where he developed into one of the best all-around guards in the Pac-12 by the end of his sophomore year. He decided to transfer and move back home, joining Illinois and coach Brad Underwood before last season's 2024-25 campaign.

#illini Brad Underwood loves that he retain many veterans

Said Kylan Boswell had a great off-season with Fletch (strength and conditioning) and expects him to start 2025-2026 well

He finished 2024-2025 on fire: last 8 games, 17 PPG. Over 50% shooting pic.twitter.com/ca6ZrISM4i
— Carson Gourdie (@GourdieReport) October 2, 2025

Kylan Boswell statistics and 2024-25 season

Boswell was Illinois' most versatile player on the roster last season, blending scoring (12.3 points per game), facilitation (3.4 assists) and hair-on-fire defense. He even pulled down 4.8 boards per game on one of the leading rebounding teams in the nation.

Depending on what the Illini needed on the night, or even in a given moment, Boswell was there to deliver – either as a primary ball-handler and offensive catalyst, a penetrator, an off-ball cutter and putback threat, and a lockdown defender of opponents' top offensive threats.

Season	School	Minutes	Points	FG%	FT%	3s	3FG%	Rebounds	Assists	Blocks	Steals
2022-23	Arizona	15.2	4.6	45.0	78.9	30	39.0	1.6	1.6	0.0	0.7
2023-24	Arizona	26.9	9.6	39.6	79.5	66	37.9	2.3	3.6	0.1	1.4
2024-25	Illinois	30.9	12.3	42.7	79.0	35	24.5	4.8	3.4	0.3	1.1

Scouting Kylan Boswell

Boswell plays bigger than his 6-foot-2 frame would suggest, in part because he is may be the strongest backcourt player in college basketball. He plays hard, with aggressive physicality, and is at his best attacking off the dribble – drawing fouls, finishing around the rim and setting up teammates on kick-out passes after drawing help.

ILL 🔹🔸 pic.twitter.com/uOcQgJQfZW
— Kylan Boswell (@BamBam_Boz) August 6, 2025

That Boswell wasn't named to the All-Big Ten defensive team last season was a robbery, but that might only make trouble for guards and wings around the country now that he's properly motivated to remedy the situation in 2025-26. His three-point shooting has dropped off every year (plummeting to 24.5 last season), and after more than 100 career college games, he shouldn't be expected to change his stripes. But even just a reasonable recovery and a bit more selectivity could help unlock his best season yet.

Boswell highlights

What they're saying about Boswell

"There's nothing on [the defensive] side of the ball that Kylan can't do. And so, physically, he's very gifted. So that gives us tremendous confidence into what he can do. ... He's also really smart, and he's got great anticipation. He's got super-quick hands. So it doesn't matter the position – kind of 1 through 4 – I'm pretty good with him, because of his strength and his quickness, being able to guard just about anybody," Underwood said after Boswell last season held Duke's 6-foot-9 rim attacker Cooper Flagg to two points in a half, then shut down Iowa's 6-foot-7 sharpshooter Payton Sandfort (3-for-13, no threes) a game later.

What we expect from Boswell

Illinois' Balkan Bros are the toast of Champaign right now, and even young fellas Keaton Wagler and Brandon Lee are drawing attention, but Boswell is the beating heart of the Illini. The rare senior on the roster, he is part team leader, part calming presence, part on-court chameleon. It's possible that Boswell's scoring may recede slightly on this club, but the tradeoff could be better shooting numbers and more wins. He also should nail down conference defensive honors, threaten for an All-Big Ten spot and possibly dish out more assists than any other secondary ball-handler in the league.

Brad Underwood on Kylan Boswell: “Maybe pound for pound the best athlete I’ve coached”

Says he’s been ‘dominant’ the first few weeks of practice pic.twitter.com/QV0Sy8Emhx
— Glenn Kinley (@glenn_kinley) October 9, 2025