Big Ten Basketball: Updated 2021-22 preseason rankings after NBA Draft decisions

Up until mid-July, it wasn’t the greatest offseason for Illinois. After the embarrassing Round of 32 loss to Loyola-Chicago as a No. 1 seed, the team lost All-American stars Ayo Dosunmu and Kofi Cockburn to the NBA Draft, where they were likely to stay. Then came the loss of big man Giorgi Bezhanishvili and outgoing transfer Adam Miller, along with all three key assistants leaving for Kentucky and Gonzaga jobs.

Yet the run of bad luck for the Illini changed in the past week, as Cockburn surprisingly left the NBA Draft process, before entering the transfer portal. Kentucky was viewed as the favorite early on but in the end, Illinois retained their All-American big man, instantly making them a preseason top-25 team for next season.

But Dosunmu is still gone, meaning that it’ll be a collective effort to help replace his production. Sophomore point guard Andre Curbelo will be a national breakout candidate, while guards Trent Frazier and Damonte Williams gives them a pair of senior veterans capable of scoring and rebounding in a strong way respectively.

Jacob Grandison, when healthy will give them minutes at the small-ball four, and while he isn’t as prolific a scorer as Dosunmu was, Utah transfer Alfonso Plummer is a capable double-digit contributor in the backcourt.

With Florida transfer center Omar Payne providing depth behind Cockburn, this Illinois team all of a sudden looks good enough for another top-tier finish in Big Ten Basketball. Depending on how much Curbelo improves, they could be a real contender once again.