| #8/10 ILLINOIS (21-10, 13-7 last season) |
| vs. North Carolina A&T |
Wednesday, Nov. 25, 2020 | 1 p.m. CT |
| vs. Chicago State |
Thursday, Nov. 26, 2020 | 11 a.m. CT |
| vs. Ohio |
Friday, Nov. 27, 2020 | 12 p.m. CT |
| Location |
Champaign, Ill. | State Farm Center |
| Television |
BTN (Brandon Gaudin-W/Th, Kevin Kugler-F, Stephen Bardo-W/Th/F) |
| Live Stream |
FoxSports.com & FOX Sports App |
| Radio |
Busey Bank Illini Sports Network | Listen | TuneIn |
| Live Stats |
FightingIllini.com |
| Printable Notes |
Illinois |
| 2019-20 Stats |
Illinois | North Carolina A&T | Chicago State | Ohio |
| Shop |
Online Store | Auctions | Publications |
| Social Media |
@IlliniMBB  | #Illini | @IlliniMBB  | Facebook  | YouTube  |
| Illinois Probable Starters (stats listed from 2019-20) |
| Pos. |
No. |
Name |
Ht. |
Wt. |
Yr. |
PPG |
RPG |
APG |
Note |
| G |
11 |
Ayo Dosunmu |
6-5 |
200 |
Jr. |
16.6 |
4.3 |
3.3 |
Preseason All-American |
| G |
1 |
Trent Frazier |
6-2 |
175 |
Sr. |
9.1 |
2.2 |
1.9 |
1,119 career pts |
| G |
20 |
Da'Monte Williams |
6-3 |
215 |
Sr. |
2.8 |
3.6 |
1.3 |
Started 22 of last 23 G |
| F |
15 |
Giorgi Bezhanishvili |
6-9 |
245 |
Jr. |
6.8 |
4.8 |
1.6 |
54 starts in 64 career G |
| C |
21 |
Kofi Cockburn |
7-0 |
285 |
So. |
13.3 |
8.8 |
0.6 |
2020 B1G Frosh of Year |
| Off the Bench |
| Pos. |
No. |
Name |
Ht. |
Wt. |
Yr. |
PPG |
RPG |
APG |
Note |
| F |
2 |
Connor Serven |
6-9 |
215 |
Fr. |
– |
– |
– |
First year walkon |
| G/F |
3 |
Jacob Grandison |
6-6 |
205 |
r-Jr. |
13.9* |
5.0* |
2.9* |
'18-19 stats from Holy Cross |
| F |
4 |
Zach Griffith |
6-6 |
220 |
Sr. |
0.8 |
0.5 |
0.1 |
2x Academic All-B1G |
| G |
5 |
Andre Curbelo |
6-1 |
175 |
Fr. |
– |
– |
– |
Top-50 recruit |
| G |
10 |
Edgar Padilla Jr. |
6-1 |
165 |
Fr. |
– |
– |
– |
First year walkon |
| C |
12 |
Brandon Lieb |
7-0 |
210 |
Fr. |
– |
– |
– |
IBCA 3rd-Team All-State |
| F |
13 |
Benjamin Bosmans-Verdonk |
6-8 |
235 |
r-Fr. |
1.2 |
1.1 |
0.7 |
Played in 9 G last year |
| G |
22 |
Austin Hutcherson |
6-6 |
175 |
r-Jr. |
20.0* |
5.6* |
3.2* |
'18-19 stats from Wesleyan |
| G |
32 |
Tyler Underwood |
6-2 |
180 |
Gr. |
0.6 |
0.2 |
0.3 |
Working on 2nd grad. degree |
| F |
33 |
Coleman Hawkins |
6-10 |
215 |
Fr. |
– |
– |
– |
MaxPreps 3rd-Team All-State |
| C |
34 |
Jermaine Hamlin |
6-10 |
235 |
So. |
0.9 |
0.8 |
0.1 |
Played in 16 G last year |
| G |
44 |
Adam Miller |
6-3 |
180 |
Fr. |
– |
– |
– |
2020 Illinois Mr. Basketball |
Career Record: 156-76 (.672), 8th year
At Illinois: 47-49 (.490), 4th year
Series Notes vs. North Carolina A&T
Record: Illinois leads 1-0
Record at Champaign: Same
Last Meeting: ILL 95, NCA&T 64 (12/20/2019 @Champaign)
Underwood vs. North Carolina A&T: 1-0
Series Notes vs. Chicago State
Record: Illinois leads 12-0
Record at Champaign: Illinois leads 12-0
Last Meeting: ILL 82, CSU 79 (11/23/2015 @Springfield)
Underwood vs. Chicago State: First meeting
Series Notes vs. Ohio
Record: Illinois leads 4-0
Record at Champaign: Same
Last Meeting: ILL 84, OHIO 54 (12/26/80 @Champaign)
Underwood vs. Ohio: First meeting
Multi-Team Event Schedule
Wednesday, Nov. 25
G1: Illinois vs. North Carolina A&T, 1 p.m., BTN
G2: Ohio vs. Chicago State, approx. 30 min. after G1
Thursday, Nov. 26
G3: Illinois vs. Chicago State, 11 a.m., BTN
G4: North Carolina A&T vs. Ohio, approx. 30 min. after G1
Friday, Nov. 27
G5: Illinois vs. Ohio, 12 p.m., BTN
G6: North Carolina A&T vs. Chicago State, approx. 30 min. after G1
Opening Tips
• Illinois opens its 116th season of men's basketball on Wednesday, taking on North Carolina A&T. The Fighting Illini have posted an all-time record of 101-14 (.878) in season openers.
• The Illini are 36-2 all-time (.947) when beginning the season at State Farm Center. This includes a streak of 23 straight wins when opening the year at SFC, a current run that began on Dec. 1, 1993.
• Illinois is No. 8 in the first Associated Press poll, its highest preseason ranking since the 2004-05 season (No. 5).
• Illinois is the lone Big Ten team with two players on the Naismith Trophy Watch List (Ayo Dosunmu and Kofi Cockburn).
• Illinois opens the season by hosting a multi-team event with North Carolina A&T, Chicago State and Ohio. The round-robin format has each of the four teams playing three games in three days. The tournament will include the first time that non-Illinois games are played at State Farm Center since the last Illini Classic was held during the 1995-96 season.
• Nov. 25 marks the latest UI opener on the calendar since the 1995-96 season, which also began on Nov. 25.
Honors Rolling in for Illini Duo
The preseason accolades are plentiful for junior point guard Ayo Dosunmu and sophomore center Kofi Cockburn. Dosunmu averaged 16.6 points (fifth in B1G), 4.3 rebounds and 3.3 assists last season, earning first-team All-Big Ten recognition from the media. Cockburn, meanwhile, was named 2020 Big Ten Freshman of the Year after averaging 13.3 points, 8.8 rebounds and 1.4 blocks.
After exploring professional opportunities, they both withdrew from the NBA Draft to return to Champaign, and have received the following accolades leading into the season:
Dosunmu Preseason Recognition
Cockburn Preseason Recognition
Illini Debut in Top 10
Illinois will open the 2020-21 season at No. 8 in the Associated Press Top 25.
This is Illinois' highest preseason ranking since starting off at No. 5 prior to 2004-05. It marks the first time Illinois enters a season ranked, meanwhile, since 2010-11 (No. 13).
This is Illinois' highest ranking in any AP poll in more than 14 years, since also checking in at No. 8 the week of Feb. 20-26, 2006.
A league-record seven Big Ten teams appear in the initial AP Top 25 poll, including three in the top 10.
» Complete Illinois Game Notes (PDF)
