Green Street A 'different' Aaliyah Guyton

Aug. 17—The word out of Ubben Basketball Complex this summer about has been positive. That the junior guard on the Illinois women's basketball team has had a very good summer. It's no surprise the 5-foot-7 Peoria native would make progress in her second full offseason program with the Illini. But it's also an important step for her after a sophomore year that had its share of highs and lows. That summer of growth continued when Guyton played for the Brazil senior women's national team at the AmeriCup South American qualifiers. Brazil ended up taking third place after finishing 3-2 at the event to earn a place in the 2027 AmeriCup, with Guyton averaging 14.4 points, 5.0 rebounds and 3.8 assists per game on 44/30/57 shooting. Guyton did more than enough at the tournament to impress Brazil coach , who selected Guyton and fellow Illinois teammate for her roster at the FIBA Women's Olympic Pre-Qualifying Tournament. The Illini will have three players there, as forward will play for Team Canada. The Olympic pre-qualifying tournament starts today and runs until next Sunday in Guadalajara, Mexico. It's a pathway for national teams to eventually qualifying for the 2028 Summer Olympic Games in Los Angeles. "Really proud of her," Illinois associate head coach said of Guyton's performance for her national team this summer. "You know, I think the major thing that she's doing that's she carrying over from here is I'm seeing her lead on the court. Their team gets an offensive rebound, their kicking it back out and she's setting the team up and getting them in what they need. ... She's playing really hard. Aaliyah can shoot the ball. We all know that. We've experienced it here." But McEntire wasn't done there. She was even more effusive in her praise of Guyton. That a more confident, comfortable Guyton has really shown up this summer. Those strides started after her sophomore year ended in late March with the Illini's second-round NCAA tournament loss to Vanderbilt and have continued through the spring and into eight weeks of summer workouts and now with team Brazil. "Aaliyah actually looks really different," McEntire said. Guyton produced 6.3 points, 2.0 rebounds and 2.0 assists per game last season on on 39/38/85 shooting. "I'm excited for everybody to see her," the Illinois associate head coach continued. "She put in a ton of work in the spring in getting healthy. She put a ton of focus on her body. She was meal-prepping every night. Her and a couple of her teammates got in on that together. And so, they were cooking every night. She's transformed her body. She feels very strong right now (and) is moving really well. I think those are the biggest growth areas that she's had during the spring into the summer so far."