Mar 23, 2024; Omaha, NE, USA; Illinois Fighting Illini head coach Brad Underwood leaves the court after the game against the Duquesne Dukes in the second round of the 2024 NCAA Tournament at CHI Health Center Omaha. Mandatory Credit: Dylan Widger.
The Illinois FIghting Illini are that rare exception for a college basketball team.
They will have few key contributors on the court from last year’s team but may actually be more talented. The Illini lost star Terrence Shannon, All-Big Ten performer Marcus Domask and six players to the transfer portal yet coach Brad Underwood probably isn’t losing any sleep.
In three months since their Elite Eight run ended, the Illini have added recruits Morez Johnson,
Tomislav Ivsisic and Will Riley and Ben Humrichous from the transfer portal.
If anything, Underwood’s biggest problem is finding enough room to play everyone.
“It’s been a very busy spring as we knew when we put last year’s team together that there was going to be a lot of new faces in next year’s team,” Underwood told reporters Monday. “We were very old.”
Riley was the big news of Sunday. He committed to the Illini despite being chased by Alabama, Kentucky and Arizona. He is a one-and-done talent who has NBA lottery pick potential in 2025.
Ivsisic is a top prospect from Croatia while Humrichous was one of the best shooters in the Missouri Valley Conference last season.
All should help offset the losses of Nico Moretti, Luke Goode, Amani Hansberry, Dain Dainja, Coleman Hawkins and Sencire Harris to the portal.
“All those guys have moved on for the most part,” Underwood said. “We feel like we’ve tapped just about every market in terms of the European market, with some high school kids, with the transfer portal. I love the talent. We’re obviously going to look a little bit different in terms of we’re quite as old.”