Illini RB Ra'Von Bonner Enters Transfer Portal; Lovie Smith: 'I feel really good about how we’ve treated Ra’Von'
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. -- Ra'Von Bonner has likely played his last football game at Illinois.
The fifth-year senior tailback, who opted out of the 2020 season due to concerns over the coronavirus, has placed his name in the NCAA’s transfer portal database. Yahoo! Sports investigative reporter Pete Thamel was the first to report this news. Chicago Tribune reporter Shannon Ryan added comments from Bonner Monday afternoon that the tailback from Cincinnati claimed he would feel unwelcome to return for the 2021 season for a sixth year of eligibility as NCAA rules allow for a player to not lose an eligibility year after a COVID-19 opt-out decision.
Bonner has confirmed to multiple news outlets he has severe asthma, which is a pre-existing condition that could worsen the health of a person if they contract the COVID-19 virus. According to the CDC website, "people with moderate to severe asthma may be at higher risk of getting very sick from COVID-19 (because) COVID-19 can affect your nose, throat, lungs (respiratory tract); cause an asthma attack; and possibly lead to pneumonia and acute respiratory disease."
Illinois Fighting Illini running back Ra'Von Bonner (21) is chased by Michigan Wolverines linebacker Cameron McGrone (44) and linebacker Khaleke Hudson (7) during the first half of a 2019 game at Memorial Stadium.
Michael Allio/USA TODAY Sports
Illinois head coach Lovie Smith took issue with the concept that Bonner was made to feel unwelcome after his decision to opt out for this season while also stating he and the Illini coaching staff had no obligation to guarantee him a spot on a roster for a future year following his graduation.
“This is how this goes, we commit four years to every athlete that comes to school here (and) to play football for four years for us here,” Smith said. “After a player becomes a graduate, there isn’t a guarantee that he comes back.”
Smith, who has made the transfer portal a major recruiting priority at Illinois, said Monday that his staff operates under the policy that a player returning as a fifth-year player has to be a mutual decision by the coaches and the player.
“Graduate athletes have a choice to whether they want to go somewhere else and so we decide if we wanted to stay married after a player has finished his four years or (gets) his degree,” Smith said. “Ra’Von has graduated from the University of Illinois and he’s on scholarship at the University of Illinois right now. So, I think I feel really good about how we’ve treated Ra’Von.”
Bonner was to be the only senior member of the Illini tailback room and the former three-star prospect ends his college football career with 822 total rushing yards and 10 touchdowns. Bonner told Illini Now/SI that he was looking forward to the 2020 season and potentially earning a starting role to prove his multi-dimensional skill set as more than a big, physical tailback. However, with Mike Epstein and Chase Brown likely to get more opportunities as the starting tailback duo in 2020, Bonner’s opportunity to see significant playing time would be limited.
“I don’t like to label myself as a big back or a blocker because when you stick labels on something you limit what you can prove and accomplish,” Bonner said following the first practice prior to the 2019 Redbox Bowl. “I think I can become a multi-skilled back in 2020 and prove that I’m capable of doing anything they ask out of me.”
Bonner and linebacker Dawson DeGroot were the only two players to officially opt out of the 2020 season due to concerns over the COVID-19 pandemic.
According to a NCAA ruling in early August, all student-athletes must be allowed to opt out of participation due to concerns about contracting COVID-19. If a college athlete chooses to opt out, that individual’s athletics scholarship commitment must be honored by the college or university.
Since DeGroot has never used a redshirt, he could conceivably use a redshirt status for this season and return to the Illini for a fifth-year and fourth season of eligibility but that move would have to be approved by Illini head coach Lovie Smith and his coaching staff.
Smith took issue Monday with the idea that any player was treated poorly by him or his coaching staff for their decision to opt out of the 2020 season.
“Ra’Von opted out like some of our other players did and Ra’Von is in school working on his graduate degree right now so I don’t know what we did that was wrong,” Smith said. “I communicated with Ra’Von this week. He entered the transfer portal this week and I’ve communicated with Ra’Von yesterday or the day before so I don’t buy that of him. We don’t treat our players that way...and to insinuate anything else, we have a problem with.”