Illini Women's Basketball
Almost all of these names we never had a chance at or could get them on campus. $, playing time and middle of the pack team(even though we are excited) appeal to a certain crowd. Next offseason will need some bigger additions with all the experience leaving.
The coaching staff still is chatting with '25 recruits even when it seems like down time
I have seen that South Carolina is heavy on Maryam Dauda but I’m just thinking our roster and potential would be an attraction..I think we just need one “Star” to break the ice for us.. I’m sure hoping that the B1G is able give our new members rude invites to our conference..One of them may be favored to win in their first year in..Come on down Ms Barker..
Champaign Toast
Fan since Kiwane Garris
By schedule I mean which opponents are only home, which are only away, and which are both.
Champaign Toast
Fan since Kiwane Garris
It hasn't yet been released. I don't know when the conference plans to release it, but last year it was released in September, and the year prior in June.
So is that portal closed for shopping or entry?
We got some size Tenin is 6'6" and depth at G in portal. Not overwhelming but both will make us a better team next year. I think improvement will hinge on whether Dolan makes sophomore jump to 12 ppg and if All American Berry Wallace can be a day 1 starter and get us 12 ppg 8 rbg inside. Bostic is a dog on the boards but is not big enough/athletic enough to score inside against elite B10 centers.
Pretty much will come down to injuries. We lose any of the starters for an extended time than I have a few concerns.
Two seasons ago we were a borderline tourney team. Last season we started slow and made a great run in the WBIT to be champs. I'm not expecting miracles but making the tournament next season should be the minimum(barring injuries). I would love to see this Senior group win a NCAA Tournament game before they leave.
Uh Bostic is basically the no.1 rebounder in the league and just kinda started stepping out of the paint really..Really she is the standard bearer of hustle and grind at this program..Really in so many ways she might be the best pro prospect,unless Berry lives up to AA status..This team will battle with the newcomers to our league..
The B1G is gonna be a monster with 6 or 7 teams in the big dance and we are going to be a prominent one.
My biggest concern is scoring when we NEED it..We have bucket getters but I do worry about backcourt size..But at the same time our backcourt is the main reason for our optimism I think..
Big 10 has gotten 7 teams in the tournament each of the last two seasons. Throw in the expansion it's a down season if only 6-7 get in next season. I love the ladies but USC is going to dominate the conference. I'm waiting to see the final rosters before making any predictions other than USC being the top dog. Bunch of teams loaded up and still trying....Iowa reached out to Maryam Dauda the other day.
Dan
Admin
Big Ten Announces 2024-25 Women's Basketball Conference Opponents - University of Illinois Athletics
With the addition of UCLA, USC, Oregon, and Washington, the 18-team Big Ten schedule format now calls for each school to play one team both home and away, and 16 teams
fightingillini.com
That would be fantastic. Guarantee us an NCAA bid. I was hoping for nice improvement Shauna's 2nd year with addition of Hobbes, Dolan and Bolin but we regressed from NCAA to CBI. Strong finish to win the CBI.
We need to see players improve year over year within the program. If this is next year's roster then it will come down to Dolan improvement, impact of freshman AA Berry Wallace, and maybe surprise contribution from someone else. Makira and Genesis are what they are.
Beauty of the schedule this season is we get Northwestern twice and likely the two best teams face each other twice in USC-UCLA
Big Ten Announces 2024-25 Women's Basketball Conference Opponents - University of Illinois Athletics
With the addition of UCLA, USC, Oregon, and Washington, the 18-team Big Ten schedule format now calls for each school to play one team both home and away, and 16 teams
Because of our returning players I think we should be a better team than Iowa..Problem for the league is we picked up 3 perennially good to great women’s teams pushing down on the rest of the lower tier teams,but NOT IS…lol
I am holding out final judgment until I see final rosters. I see us being anywhere from 3rd to 10th in the conference. Ton of 2nd tier teams where you could mix us around.
Im wondering if the West Coast teams can handle the constant physicality of the B1G nightly..Whoever comes out of our league like the SEC will be battle tested..I think USC will be at the top also but they will be surprised that playing a Nebraska and Minnesota is nothing like Washington State and California...Everynight will be a tough out ...No more 3 loss seasons...Well they did add a big recruiting haul and a portal bushel to boot...AAhh the rich get richer huh?...
Pac-12 was a better conference than Big 10 last season. They will be fine with style of play. Our ladies aren't a physical team but run and gun for example. I am intrigued to see how the schedules setup for road games and going coast to coast.
Stanford had 3 conference losses, USC and UCLA 5. Anyone can be beaten but USC sure looks super tough. Clark carried Iowa and had some supporting cast. Watkins has a better supporting cast next season. I don't see a huge difference after the first few teams. Nebraska, Maryland, Michigan, Ohio St, Illinois, Iowa, Michigan St(can throw in few more teams)in the top 15-40 range.