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Former Eastern Illinois men's basketball player Corey Sawyer Jr has turned reality TV star as the former Panther debuted on the reality TV show Love Island USA which aired Episode 18 of its 2026 summer season last night on Peacock.
 
Sawyer played two seasons at Eastern Illinois during the 2023-24 and 2024-25 seasons averaging 8.9 points per game as a junior.  He suffered an injury in the summer prior to his senior year which limited him to playing in just 14 games with three double figure scoring contests.
 
Sawyer is the son of former Florida State All-American football player Corey Sawyer and is from Orlando, Florida.
 
He made his debut on the show on the June 22 episode with this year's Love Island USA villa being filmed in the Mamanuca Islands of Fiji.
 
Love Island is an almost-daily dating show that typically starts with 10 to 12 contestants and has singles live together in a luxury villa.  To survive the show and be named the winner, earning a total of $100,000, contestants must "couple up."   Those left single at the end of the coupling ceremonies are eliminated (or dumped from the villa/island), and viewers vote to crown the final winning couple.
 
In Sawyer's case, he will be a bombshell, meaning that new singles enter the villa and are given free rein to take the other males' woman partners on dates.  The show airs exclusively on Peacock.