Illinois Basketball: Evaluating scenarios for Illini heading into 2020-21 season
By Tim Edmonds
Both key Illinois Basketball players elect to remain in the NBA Draft
Illinois finishes 16-17, 7-13 in conference and misses postseason play
Despite neither Dosunmu nor Cockburn drawing early first-round interest from NBA teams, both remain in the draft and task Brad Underwood with completely rebuilding his roster.
The Illini instantly must replace their two best players from last season, as well key role players in graduate Andres Feliz and sophomore guard Alan Griffin who transferred to Syracuse this offseason. With all of this compounding and a young roster on his hands, Underwood must face a complete rebuild just a year after collecting 21 wins.
In response, he throws freshmen guard Adam Miller into the fire immediately. A four-star recruit from Morgan Park High School in Chicago — the same high school as Dosunmu — Miller shines early for the Illini, as do returning veterans in guard Trent Frazier and forward Giorgi Bezhanishvili, but it’s simply not enough to contend in an absolutely loaded Big Ten conference race.
Their rotation that relies on heavy minutes from Frazier, Miller, Bezhanishvili, and senior guard Da’Monte Williams has immense struggles scoring points all season, as they pick up a paltry seven conference wins. Losing both conference match-ups to Iowa, Michigan State, Wisconsin and Rutgers, the Fighting Illini limp into the Big Ten tournament with a 15-16 record overall and a four-game losing streak to close the season.
After winning their opening round match-up against last-place Northwestern, the Illini fall to Purdue in the tournament’s second round, ending their season at a disappointing 16-17 overall.