Illinois Basketball: 5 biggest storylines for 2020-21 season

4. Will Adam Miller benefit from less attention?

Every Illini fan was ecstatic to hear that Morgan Park standout and top-30 recruit Adam Miller was staying home to play for the Illini in college. This happiness only increased when Ayo Dosunmu announced he would be returning for his junior year in Champaign, leaving the two former high school teammates to pair up for this season.

For Illinois, the fact that Dosunmu is coming back to play with Miller should only increase their confidence in Miller for this season. Without Dosunmu, Miller would most likely have been the focal point for most opposing teams and would ultimately have been guarded by their best defender day in and day out. This will almost certainly not be the case this season though.

The question then becomes if this lack of attention from opposing teams compared to Dosunmu, will help Miller or not. Most, including I, think yes it will help him tremendously. The reason being that this will allow for Miller to get a better feel for the college game without being thrown into the fire from day one and being expected to be THE guy from the start, similar to Dosunmu was in his freshman campaign.

With less attention and more breathing room, Miller will benefit by getting an easier matchup and therefore could create more shots and more opportunities for the highly touted freshman. While some may say it could harm the way Miller plays by making him expect to be guarded by lesser talent throughout college, the idea that Miller will lower his game to the standards of the defense is silly.

Adam Miller is certain to have a great impact on the Illini this season and for seasons to come baring an incredible season worth an NBA Draft look. Look for Miller to find his comfort zone early and exploit many team’s inabilities to guard multiple high-level scorers at once.