4. Illinois Fighting Illini
Last year, Illinois was viewed as one of the biggest winners of the transfer portal. But they were viewed as a “high risk/high reward” team. Based on the 9 seed and Round of 64 exit in the NCAA Tournament, the “risk” won out. The pickups of Terrence Shannon and Matthew Mayer worked out individually but there were simply too many holes, especially in the backcourt.
There’s a chance that Shannon could return for a 5th year but they have to deal with the status of starting forward Coleman Hawkins (NBA Draft process), along with the losses of guards RJ Melendez, Skyy Clark, and Jayden Epps.
In hindsight, it was a mistake to not have at least one veteran guard in the rotation compared to the three a year ago. Although the program has a four-star point guard commit in Dravyn Gibbs-Lawhorn but look for them to make up for that issue with someone from the portal.
Due to the issues with the Big Ten overall, Coach Brad Underwood has gotten a bit of a pass for the lack of NCAA Tournament success. But Illinois needs to show something next season and will need a roster to do so. Right now, especially if Shannon doesn’t come back, they don’t have one.