Big Ten Basketball: 10 key storylines to watch for 2023 offseason

Purdue Boilermakers center Zach Edey (15) celebrates as he is announced the player of the tournament after winning the Big Ten Men’s Basketball Tournament Championship game against the Penn State Nittany Lions, Sunday, March 12, 2023, at United Center in Chicago. Purdue won 67-65.Pupsu031223 Am22423 /

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Big Ten Basketball Illinois Fighting Illini Matt Krohn-USA TODAY Sports /

3. Illinois has a decision to make at the PG spot

One of the biggest risks taken this past season was Illinois and Coach Brad Underwood opting to go with true freshmen ball-handlers to run the offense. One of them was Skyy Clark, a former top-30 and five-star prospect, who happened to be a former Kentucky commit.

The experiment looked okay at first, as the Fighting Illini defeated both Texas and UCLA in the non-conference. But after 13 games, Clark left the team due to personal reasons, before ultimately hitting the transfer portal and joining Louisville. That left four-star recruit Jayden Epps, which didn’t work a ton. He’s talented and has potential but wasn’t ready to play big minutes as a freshman.

Terrence Shannon eventually took over the ball-handling duties and the team lost in the first round of the NCAA Tournament to Arkansas. For a team that had a ton of hype but also doubt, it was the doubt that won out. This team could very well lose Shannon this offseason and has a decision on whether they’ll roll with Epps and incoming top-100 freshman Dravyn Gibbs-Lawhorn, or get a proven ball-handler in the offseason.

In the year prior, the Illini succeeded with a pair of senior guards in Alfonso Plummer and Trent Frazier. Look for the program to get closer to that by adding one more ball-handler. Although if there’s a few more that leave, they could need multiple.

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