Illini Basketball 2024-2025

#1      

Dan

Dan
Admin
Dan
Welcome to the Illini Basketball 2024-2025 & College Basketball news thread :illinois:


Tickets | Schedule | Roster

Single game home tickets on sale to general public on Oct. 24th.


2024-2025 Illini Basketball

DateOpponentTime/TV
Sun, Oct 27at Ole Miss
(Charity Exhibition Game)		11:00am
Mon, Nov 4Eastern Illinois
Fri, Nov 8SIU-Edwardsville
Wed, Nov 13Oakland
Wed, Nov 20Alabama
(Birmingham)
Sat, Nov 23Maryland-Eastern Shore
Mon, Nov 25Little Rock
Thu, Nov 28Arkansas
(Kansas City)		3:00pm CBS
Fri, Dec 6at Northwestern
Tue, Dec 10Wisconsin
Sat, Dec 14Tennessee
Sun, Dec 22Missouri
(Braggin' Rights, St. Louis)
Sun, Dec 29Chicago State
Thu, Jan 2at Oregon
Sun, Jan 5at Washington
Wed, Jan 8Penn State
Sat, Jan 11USC
Tue, Jan 14at Indiana
Sun, Jan 19at Michigan State
Thu, Jan 23Maryland
Sun, Jan 26Northwestern
Thu, Jan 30at Nebraska
Sun, Feb 2Ohio State
Wed, Feb 5at Rutgers
Sat, Feb 8at Minnesota
Tue, Feb 11UCLA
Sat, Feb 15Michigan State
Tue, Feb 18at Wisconsin
Sat, Feb 22Duke
(New York)		FOX
Tue, Feb 25Iowa
Sun, Mar 2at Michigan
Fri, Mar 7Purdue

All times CT
 
#4      
Big Jack
Any update on Tomislav's status and paperwork issues?

Noticed he was in the video posted yesterday.

Pga Tour Golf GIF by PGA EuroPro Tour
 
#8      
redwingillini11

4. Illinois​

Biggest losses: Terrence Shannon (23.0 ppg, 4.0 rpg); Marcus Domask (15.9 ppg, 5.0 rpg, 3.9 apg); Quincy Guerrier (9.6 ppg, 6.1 rpg); Dain Dainja (6.1 ppg; 3.6 rpg); Luke Goode (5.7 ppg, 3.6 rpg); Justin Harmon (5.6 ppg)

Returning rotation players: Ty Rodgers (6.2 ppg, 5.3 rpg)

Top 100 freshmen added: No. 19 Will Riley, No. 30 Morez Johnson Jr.

Top 100 transfers added: No. 53 Kylan Boswell (Arizona)

Why they’re here: Should we use caution when projecting Illinois, especially considering what happened at UCLA last year? Nah. Brad Underwood has it rolling, and Kasparas Jakucionis — a potential 2025 first-rounder — looks too good. The 6-foot-6 guard is one of the players we’re most intrigued to watch early in the year. He had an awesome summer, averaging 19.4 points and 5.3 assists for Lithuania at the under-18 EuroBasket. He also averaged 19.2 points, 6.6 rebounds and 5.7 assists playing for FC Barcelona’s second team last year. (For context, FC Barcelona is one of the most successful franchises in the EuroLeague.) Jakucionis seems like a good candidate to inherit the Domask role: a big facilitator who can also score in isolation. But Underwood leaned even further into the international pipeline, landing 7-foot-1 Croatian center Tomislav Ivisic — the twin brother of Arkansas’ Zvonimir Ivisic (aka Big Z) — to go along with his two highly rated North American recruits. The 6-foot-8 Riley is a prospect we’ve also heard rave reviews about.

What you’ll notice about all of the additions is size (and usually skill). Underwood has been very intentional in trying to build a modern roster with positional size and plenty of shooting. Boswell (6-2) and sophomore Dra Gibbs-Lawhorn (6-1) are the only players under 6-6 who figure to be part of the rotation. Outside of Boswell, the Illini’s other transfer additions — Carey Booth (Notre Dame), Ben Humrichous (Evansville), Tre White(Louisville) and Jake Davis (Mercer) — are all 6-6 or taller and can play on the perimeter. Underwood has had five consecutive years of top-half Big Ten finishes, so putting such an unproven team this high is partly a bet on a coach who is committed to sticking to a formula.
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#9      
Calvin
Just catching up on the prior thread (post from it below), wanted to say I enjoy that interview even though the interviewer repeatedly asked questions only to cut off Underwood. Surprised at how gracious Underwood was.


AZILL said:
Was that the entire interview? Interesting topic. The interviewer was ticking me off the 1st half of that clip because he was interjecting new questions before BU was finished talking.

And just to clarify your statement Re: Tyler. Tyler was assaulted while still a student at OSU after Brad took the Illinois job.
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I had the same reaction. Couldn't even finish the interview. Why ask a question if you're going to cut him off before he can fully answer the question that YOU asked?
 
#12      
Bigtex
This has been the LONGEST!!!! off season. With Illinois' nice E8 run and the potential for another good season I am ready to start seeing games and the season to get started. This is probably due to recent (2006-2022) NCAA mediocrity results causing me to not be anxious to get the next season started. The 24-25 Illini essentially will be a brand-new team and relatively young roster. Lot of talent and potential on this roster. Let's see how the coaches mold them today and prepare for March 2025
 
#13      
RabidDawgClassic
Bigtex said:
This has been the LONGEST!!!! off season. With Illinois' nice E8 run and the potential for another good season I am ready to start seeing games and the season to get started. This is probably due to recent (2006-2022) NCAA mediocrity results causing me to not be anxious to get the next season started. The 24-25 Illini essentially will be a brand-new team and relatively young roster. Lot of talent and potential on this roster. Let's see how the coaches mold them today and prepare for March 2025
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Good football has helped. Bad baseball, on the other hand… 🫤
 
#14      
Chad Fleck
Bigtex said:
This has been the LONGEST!!!! off season. With Illinois' nice E8 run and the potential for another good season I am ready to start seeing games and the season to get started. This is probably due to recent (2006-2022) NCAA mediocrity results causing me to not be anxious to get the next season started. The 24-25 Illini essentially will be a brand-new team and relatively young roster. Lot of talent and potential on this roster. Let's see how the coaches mold them today and prepare for March 2025
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Strange, huh? The Illini make it further than any Illini team in 20 years, yet this feels like the longest offseason. The transfer portal hysteria made this all sort of a short offseason to me. There was always news, so I never really stopped consuming college basketball content.
 
#15      
Calvin
Chad Fleck said:
Strange, huh? The Illini make it further than any Illini team in 20 years, yet this feels like the longest offseason. The transfer portal hysteria made this all sort of a short offseason to me. There was always news, so I never really stopped consuming college basketball content.
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+1 It seems like the roster changeover goes on for a couple months after the season, which brings excitement and the feel that basketball is still going on.....and then it's finally quiet.
 
#16      
Bigtex
Chad Fleck said:
Strange, huh? The Illini make it further than any Illini team in 20 years, yet this feels like the longest offseason. The transfer portal hysteria made this all sort of a short offseason to me. There was always news, so I never really stopped consuming college basketball content.
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Yeah I followed closer than during the Weber and Groce years but the roster has been set for awhile and now quiet. Still the potential for similar performance has this OLD guy ready for game action.
 
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