Illinois Basketball: Keys to success for the Fighting Illini in 2019-20

5. Leaders exude confidence and poise

Illinois is facing high expectations heading into this year but they are still quite young. It seems likely that the program will start three sophomores this year with a freshman (Kofi Cockburn) as one of their key reserves. As a result, the upperclassmen on this team will need to emerge as leaders right away. Adversity is ever-present in college basketball, especially for a team that is hoping to make the NCAA Tournament for the first time in seven years.

Making the leap from the bottom half of the Big Ten into contention is never easy and the young roster will lean heavily on its leaders.

Most notably, Trent Frazier looks poised to fill a major leadership role this season. The junior guard has been an excellent scorer for the program in his first two seasons and is fresh off a campaign in which he averaged 13.7 points, 2.3 rebounds, 2.6 assists, and 1.4 steals per game.

It is no secret that he is one of the better guards in the Big Ten and now he will be seen as one of the veterans on this roster. Frazier will form a dynamic duo with Dosunmu in the backcourt and his on-the-court leadership could really help to carry the team through difficult times. Frazier is never afraid to be the one to take the big shots.

Additionally, Nichols and Andres Feliz represent two seniors in the rotation. Both players are experienced and understand how to stay poised in crunch time. While neither is expected to post awesome box score numbers this year, their veteran leadership should help some of the young stars to keep their cool when necessary. Coach Underwood seems to have a solid balance of youth with some upperclassmen to potentially make a big run this year.

Illinois seems to be on the verge of a major breakout season. Will the Illini be able to live up to those high expectations and reach the NCAA Tournament? It will be interesting to find out as the program clearly has plenty of talent now.