The Illinois Fighting Illini get a fresh start this season. This does not mean that Illinois will make an immediate breakthrough, but school athletic director Josh Whitman very likely gave the program a better future when he fired coach John Groce, who had simply not been able to move the Ilini forward. Groce made an NCAA Tournament early in his tenure in Champaign but then stalled and lacked the ability to get his players to mesh. A few injuries at the point guard position did hamper his efforts, but the rest of his roster never really came together. There is too much talent to recruit at Illinois – especially near the Chicago metropolitan area – for this program to struggle on a continuous basis. Yet, that is exactly what was happening under Groce.
Whitman made a change, and now the program starts over with more optimism.
Offseason Changes
The man Whitman hired after firing Groce was as good as Illinois could have hoped for, and it was also a surprise. Brad Underwood, just one year into his tenure at Oklahoma State, stunned everyone in college basketball when he left Stillwater, Oklahoma, for a Big Ten program. What happened was that Underwood coached last season at Oklahoma State on the cheap. He had hoped to get a beefed-up deal, but Oklahoma State athletic director Mike Holder refused to give him a salary which was competitive on the market. Underwood was upset and would simply not accept that kind of treatment, at least from his point of view. Illinois and Whitman were waiting with a lucrative offer, and that was more than enough for Underwood to leave Oklahoma State after just one season, even though the Big 12 conference is where he went to school (he is an alumnus of Kansas State).
Now he gets to lead this program – everyone in Champaign is very excited about what he has to offer.
Will Succeed If…
New reinforcements can take to Underwood’s coaching style and reshape the local culture of the program. Freshmen Mark Smith and Trent Frazier plus Da’Monte Williams are new faces, but they are all given a chance by outside evaluators as new players who can make a difference in Champaign. Illinois’ roster – in terms of any of its returning parts – is probably not seen as an NCAA Tournament-level roster. That means the new components without a track record of playing in the Big Ten (or at any level of college basketball) represent the wild cards here. If they can meet their own expectations and develop under Underwood’s tutelage, this season could hit or even exceed its targets for the Illini.
Won’t Succeed If…
Transfer Mark Alstork turns into a bust. Coaches have to work the transfer market these days if they want to give their program an unexpected boost. It is no longer enough to merely recruit new freshmen. Transfers constantly switch programs and make a big difference at their new stops. Underwood is hoping that Alstork will revive his collegiate career. If he doesn’t add anything new to the mix, however, Illinois will have a much harder time reaching its goals. Alstork, who came from Wright State, can score in bunches. That’s exactly what someone on this roster needs to be able to do this coming season.
Roster
Trent Frazier
Kipper Nichols
Te’Jon Lucas
Matic Vesel
Drew Cayce
Greg Eboigbodin
Leron Black
Mark Smith
Da’Monte Williams
Aaron Jordan
Mark Alstork
Tyler Underwood
Samson Oladimeji
Clayton Jones
Michael Finke
Cameron Liss
Schedule & Outlook
The Illini take on Wake Forest, UNLV, New Mexico State, and Missouri in their non-conference schedule. The Missouri game will be one to watch, since the Tigers – having been very bad for a long time – might actually be good this season. This isn’t the most daunting schedule but it will test Illinois for sure. Illinois is not an NCAA Tournament team, but Underwood has enough resourcefulness to get the Illini into the top 10 of the Big Ten.
The 2018 March Madness futures are out. There has been plenty of news to keep up with in the offseason but keep an eye on the betting lines as they move around at Diamond Sportsbook! Get the latest college basketball betting lines right here.
