Last season, Illinois finished 28-9 and reached the Final Four, falling to UConn 71-62 in the semifinals. It was the program’s first Final Four appearance in 21 years, and there’s plenty of reason to believe the Illini could make another run this season.
Illinois has reached consecutive Final Fours just once before, in 1951 and 1952, when the NCAA Tournament featured just 16 teams. Could this year’s group make history?
The makeup of this year’s team
The Illini have a slightly different version of their Balkan Five, with Tomislav
and Zvonimir Ivisic, Andrej Stojaković and David Mirkovic returning. Stefan Vaaks takes the place of Mihailo Petrovic in the mix.
Illinois also returns Jake Davis (out now for a while with injury) and reserve center Jason Jakstys. The program added a highly touted freshman class that Sports Illustrated ranked sixth nationally among high school recruiting classes.
That class is led by five-star guard Quentin Coleman, a 6-foot-4, 180-pound prospect from St. Louis, Missouri. Coleman is an elite scorer with playmaking potential who could follow in the footsteps of Kasparas Jakucionis, Will Riley and Keaton Wagler by making an early jump to the NBA.
He is joined by two highly regarded shooting guards: 6-foot-7 Lucas Morillo of Boston and 6-foot-7 Zavier Zens of Milwaukee. At 215 pounds, Zens is more of a traditional wing, but both players bring excellent rebounding ability. Morillo also has impressive ballhandling and playmaking skills for his size.
Lincoln Williams might be the best athlete in the group. At 6-foot-5 and 180 pounds, he brings exceptional leaping ability, lateral quickness and overall speed.
Ethan Brown, a 6-foot-4, 180-pound guard from Rolla, Missouri, is another player capable of scoring and creating opportunities for himself and his teammates.
Ladon Davis rounds out the group. The 6-foot-8, 210-pound wing has good size and the versatility to fill multiple roles.
Vaaks is another important addition. The 6-foot-7, 206-pound transfer from Providence averaged 15.8 points, 5.2 rebounds and 3.2 assists per game last season while earning Big East All-Freshman Team honors.
How things look so far
The Illini have already been hit by the injury bug.
David Mirkovic can’t seem to catch a break. He injured his foot before the season began, and the team initially hoped he would be ready for opening night. When surgery became necessary, he was placed in a walking boot and sidelined for several weeks. Then, late Saturday night, he was rushed to the hospital for an emergency appendectomy. There is still no official timeline for his return.
Andrej Stojaković, Tomislav Ivisic and Zvonimir Ivisic also suffered injuries during the exhibition against Baylor.
Tomislav returned for the final exhibition against UIC, finishing with 14 points, three rebounds and one assist. Zvonimir and Andrej were in concussion protocol and missed that game. Both were cleared in time for Monday night’s season opener against Fairleigh Dickinson.
Freshman Lincoln Williams also missed the FDU game after suffering an injury in practice.
Across three exhibition games, Illinois went 2-1, scoring more than 100 points twice and averaging 99 points per game.
Stojaković led the team with 19.5 points per game despite appearing in only two contests. Four players averaged double figures during exhibition play.
Coleman led the team with 22 rebounds (7.3 per game) and 17 assists (5.7 per game). He also posted a plus-10 assist-to-turnover margin, the best mark on the team.
Overall, the shooting was impressive. Illinois shot 50% from the field, 39% from three-point range and 80.6% from the free-throw line.
Defense, however, was a concern. Opponents averaged 95.5 points over the first two exhibitions, although the Illini tightened things up in the finale against UIC, allowing just 66 points.
There were plenty of positives heading into the regular season.
Illinois opened its nonconference schedule with a dominant 120-45 victory over Fairleigh Dickinson. The Illini set program records for three-point attempts (51) and three-pointers made (19).
Six players scored in double figures, led by Stojaković and Vaaks with 20 points apiece. Coleman recorded a double-double with 13 points and 10 rebounds, while Brown narrowly missed one with 12 points and nine rebounds.
One concerning development was an apparent shoulder injury to senior Jake Davis. His status remains uncertain.
Coleman looks every bit the player he was advertised to be. Brown, Zens and Williams have shown they can contribute beyond their years, while Stojaković has picked up where he left off last season. Vaaks is proving why he earned Big East All-Freshman Team honors at Providence.
A challenging schedule awaits
The schedule is not overly difficult but will provide a mix of different challenges. I would say a good over/under The schedule isn’t overly difficult, but it will provide a variety of challenges. I’d put a reasonable over/under for Illinois’ regular-season win total at 26.5.
November will see the Illini travel to Lubbock, Texas, to face Texas Tech before heading to Durham, North Carolina, for a matchup with Duke.
December begins with a rematch against UConn at the United Center, followed by the annual pre-Christmas bragging-rights game against the Missouri Tigers.
In the middle of Big Ten play, Illinois will also travel to Nashville for a matchup with North Carolina.
The remainder of the nonconference schedule isn’t particularly daunting, with games against Sam Houston, Winthrop and Eastern Illinois.
In conference play, Illinois faces just three teams twice: Purdue, Wisconsin and, of course, Northwestern. Key road games include trips to Indiana, Michigan, Oregon and Washington.
I think this is the type of schedule that could help Illinois earn a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament.
Combine that opportunity with a solid mix of experienced veterans and talented freshmen, and this is a team that could find itself playing at Ford Field during the first week of April.
A return to the Final Four isn’t out of the question.
Those are my thoughts. What are yours?
