| Illinois Probable Starters (averages listed from 2020-21 season) |
| Pos. |
No. |
Name |
Ht. |
Wt. |
Yr. |
PPG |
RPG |
APG |
Note |
| G |
5 |
Andre Curbelo |
6-1 |
175 |
So. |
9.1 |
4.0 |
4.2 |
2021 Big Ten Sixth Man of the Year |
| G |
1 |
Trent Frazier |
6-2 |
175 |
Sr. |
10.2 |
2.7 |
2.7 |
2021 Big Ten All-Defensive Team |
| G |
20 |
Da'Monte Williams |
6-3 |
215 |
Sr. |
5.5 |
5.3 |
1.7 |
Led NCAA in 3FG% (min 2 att/g) at 54.7% |
| G/F |
3 |
Jacob Grandison |
6-6 |
210 |
Gr. |
4.6 |
3.4 |
1.3 |
Illini 14-2 with him as starter |
| F |
33 |
Coleman Hawkins |
6-10 |
215 |
So. |
1.4 |
0.8 |
0.4 |
14.5 ppg & 7.0 rpg in 2 exh. games |
| Off the Bench |
| Pos. |
No. |
Name |
Ht. |
Wt. |
Yr. |
PPG |
RPG |
APG |
Note |
| G |
0 |
Brandin Podziemski |
6-5 |
200 |
Fr. |
– |
– |
– |
Wisconsin Mr. Basketball |
| F |
2 |
Connor Serven |
6-9 |
235 |
So. |
0.3 |
0.3 |
0.0 |
Team's lone walkon in second year |
| F |
4 |
Omar Payne |
6-10 |
240 |
Jr. |
3.8 |
3.2 |
0.4 |
10th in SEC in blocks (1.2 bpg) |
| G |
10 |
Luke Goode |
6-7 |
200 |
Fr. |
– |
– |
– |
Indiana first-team All-State |
| G |
11 |
Alfonso Plummer |
6-1 |
180 |
Gr. |
13.6 |
2.2 |
1.0 |
Led Pac-12 in made threes (2.6 per game) |
| C |
12 |
Brandon Lieb |
7-0 |
220 |
So. |
0.8 |
1.2 |
0.2 |
Played in 5 games last year |
| F |
13 |
Benjamin Bosmans-Verdonk |
6-8 |
235 |
r-So. |
0.3 |
0.4 |
0.0 |
Played in 8 games last year |
| G |
15 |
RJ Melendez |
6-7 |
205 |
Fr. |
– |
– |
– |
Florida SIAA Player of the Year |
| G |
22 |
Austin Hutcherson |
6-6 |
190 |
Gr. |
– |
– |
– |
Missed last season with back injury |
| Out |
| Pos. |
No. |
Name |
Ht. |
Wt. |
Yr. |
PPG |
RPG |
APG |
Note |
| C |
21 |
Kofi Cockburn |
7-0 |
285 |
Jr. |
17.7 |
9.5 |
0.2 |
2021 Consensus Second-Team All-American |
Career Record: 180-83 (.684), 9th year
At Illinois: 71-56 (.559), 5th year
Series Notes vs. Jackson State
Record: Illinois leads 4-0
Record at Champaign:Â Same
Last Meeting: ILL 78, JSU 64 (Nov. 23, 2008 @ILL)
Underwood vs. Jackson State: First meeting
Opening Tips
• Illinois opens its 117th season of men's basketball on Tuesday night, hosting Jackson State (7 p.m. CT, BTN).
• The Fighting Illini have posted an all-time record of 102-14 (.870) in season openers.
• The Illini are 37-2 all-time (.949) when starting the season at State Farm Center. This includes a current streak of 24 straight wins when opening the year at SFC, a run that began on Dec. 1, 1993.
• Illinois is No. 11 in the Associated Press poll and No. 10 in the Coaches poll, marking the second straight year the Illini appear in the preseason rankings (No. 8 entering last season). It is the first time since 2009-10 and 2010-11 that Illinois is ranked in consecutive preseason polls.
• Illinois has now been ranked for 21 straight weeks spanning three seasons of the Underwood era, a streak that began with the March 2, 2020 poll.
• Illinois is No. 5 in preseason ratings by both kenpom and t-rank.
• Illinois will be without Preseason All-American and Preseason Big Ten Player of the Year Kofi Cockburn for the first three games to open the season. He is serving an NCAA suspension after selling institutionally issued apparel and memorabilia in June. Cockburn's activities occurred before July 1, when the State of Illinois and the NCAA enacted new NIL legislation that would have made those sales permissible.
Honors Rolling In for Illini Duo
Honors Rolling In for Illini Duo
The preseason accolades are plentiful for Fighting Illini junior center Kofi Cockburn and sophomore point guard Andre Curbelo.
Cockburn averaged 17.7 points on 65.4% shooting, 9.5 rebounds and 1.3 blocks assists last season, earning NCAA Consensus Second-Team All-America honors. Curbelo, meanwhile, was named 2021 Big Ten Sixth Man of the Year after averaging 9.1 points, 4.2 assists and 4.0 rebounds.
They are projected to be one of the most prolific point guard-center tandems in college basketball this season:
Cockburn Preseason Recognition
• Associated Press All-America Team
• Big Ten Player of the Year (conference media)
• Naismith Trophy Watch List (Atlanta Tipoff Club)
• NABC Div. I Player of the Year Watch List
• Lute Olson Award Watch List
• Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Award Watch List, nation's top center (Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame)
• First-team All-American (Sporting News, CBS Sports, Blue Ribbon Yearbook, The Athletic, Athlon Sports, Dick Vitale & College Hoops Today)
• Second-Team All-American (Lindy's, Field of 68)
• No. 2, CBS Sports' Top 101 Players
• No. 3, March Madness 365's Top 25 Returning Players
• No. 4, Athlon Sports' Top 100 Players & Lindy's Top 150 Players
• Big Ten Player of the Year (The Athletic, Blue Ribbon & Lindy's)
Curbelo Preseason Recognition
• Naismith Trophy Watch List (Atlanta Tipoff Club)
• Lute Olson Award Watch List
• Bob Cousy Award Watch List, nation's top point guard (Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame)
• First-Team All-American (Field of 68)
• Third-Team All-American (College Hoops Today)
• Fourth-Team All-American (Dick Vitale)
• All-Big Ten Team (conference media)
• No. 3, The Athletic's Top 20 Guards
• No. 24, CBS Sports' Top 101 Players
» Complete Illinois Game Notes (PDF)
