Busting Brackets
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NCAA Basketball: 3 way-too-early Final Four sleepers for 2022-23 season

By Connor Wilson

Feb 28, 2022; Laramie, Wyoming, USA; Wyoming Cowboys guard Hunter Maldonado (24) controls the ball against the San Diego State Aztecs during the first half at Arena-Auditorium. Mandatory Credit: Troy Babbitt-USA TODAY Sports
Feb 28, 2022; Laramie, Wyoming, USA; Wyoming Cowboys guard Hunter Maldonado (24) controls the ball against the San Diego State Aztecs during the first half at Arena-Auditorium. Mandatory Credit: Troy Babbitt-USA TODAY Sports /
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Mandatory Credit: Chris Jones-USA TODAY Sports
Mandatory Credit: Chris Jones-USA TODAY Sports /

Illinois Fighting Illini

This year in Champaign will have a different feel as opposed to years past. There is no Ayo Dosunmu or Kofi Cockburn. Andre Curbelo transferred to St. John’s. Glue guys like Alfonzo Plummer, Jacob Grandison, and Trent Frazier are gone as well. Despite a different-looking squad, head coach Brad Underwood has put a group of players together that will be competitive once again in the Big Ten.

Last year, the Fighting Illini went 23-10 and won the B1G regular season title for the first time since 2005. They were led by the aforementioned Cockburn, who averaged 20.9 PPG and 10.6 RPG. He declared for the NBA Draft and went undrafted. It will be challenging to replace his production and this year junior forward Coleman Hawkins will be the one taking on that challenge.

The Fighting Illini will also have to find a way to replace the scoring of Plummer and Frazier from a year ago, and they brought in a pair of highly touted transfers. Baylor forward and former National Champion Matthew Mayer enters the fold along with Texas Tech guard and former Top 100 recruit Terrence Shannon Jr. does as well. Mayer and Shannon Jr. were two of the most highly coveted transfers in the nation this year and Coach Underwood landed them in Champaign.

The transfer portal isn’t the only way that the Fighting Illini improved this season. Coach Underwood has a Top 10 recruiting class headlined by his new starting point guard Skyy Clark. Clark was a former Kentucky commit before he reconsidered and went to Illinois. A pair of role players are also returning in sophomores Luke Goode and RJ Melendez, and both are expected to have larger roles this season.

If Mayer and Shannon Jr. live up to the hype they received in the portal and the Top 10 class plays up to its standards, the Fighting Illini have as good a shot as any to make it to Houston.

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