NCAA Basketball: 4 teams to end drought for 2020 NCAA Tournament

Illinois Fighting Illini

Illinois hasn’t made the NCAA Tournament since 2013 under coach John Groce, but that could change in Brad Underwood’s third season. A look at Underwood’s first two seasons wouldn’t lead one to believe that the Illini are on the cusp of being a tournament team, as they have gone just 26-39 and 11-27 in the Big Ten over his first two seasons.

The reason things are looking up in Champaign is that 60.6 of their 72.7 points per game are returning, including the somewhat surprising return of the Ayo Dosunmu and Trent Frazier backcourt. Not only are the two, Illinois’ leading scorers at 13.8 and 13.7 ppg respectively, but they also led the team in three-point shooting, with Frazier knocking down 40.6% and Dosunmu at 35%. Another key returnee is sophomore forward Giorgi Bezhanishvili who averaged 12.5 points and a team-high five rebounds as a freshman and gained more confidence as the year went on, leading the team in rebounding in half their games after the calendar turned to January.

Add in the return of guards Andres Feliz, Tevian Jones, Da’Monte Williams, and Alan Griffin and Underwood have plenty of backcourt depth to rely on. In the frontcourt, Kipper Nichols returns as a redshirt senior and the team’s three recruits fill out the depth chart. Benjamin Bosmans-Berdonk makes his way to Illinois by way of Belgium, but the gem of the class is 6-10 290lb. Kofi Cockburn who is listed as a top-50 recruit by 247Sports and should make an immediate impact for coach Underwood.