Illinois' Big Ten Men's Basketball Media Day Takeaways
October 10, 2023 | Men's Basketball
NEWS
MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. -- Year seven. He can hardly believe it, but head coach Brad Underwood enters his seventh year at Illinois as he made his annual appearance at Big Ten Basketball Media Days in Minneapolis on Tuesday.
Guiding the Fighting Illini to a third consecutive NCAA Tournament berth last season, Underwood has accumulated 55 conference wins over the last four years, the winningest stretch in Big Ten play in program history.
Illinois finished the 2022-23 campaign with a 20-13 record, the program's fourth straight year with at least 20 victories, along with 11 wins against conference opponents. Two of the biggest pieces on last year's team – fifth-year Terrence Shannon Jr. and senior Coleman Hawkins – are back on Underwood's squad and represented the Illini at Target Center.
With the team's exhibition opener against Ottawa (Kan.) just 10 days away, here are a few takeaways from the group's time at Big Ten Basketball Media Days on Tuesday.
The returns of Hawkins, Shannon Jr. are incredibly valuable for Underwood's squad
Both Hawkins and Shannon Jr. entered their names into the NBA Draft after the 2022-23 season, looking to take the next steps in their respective careers.
After going through the process and gaining valuable feedback, both players opted to return to Illinois for the 2023-24 season. Those decisions will prove incredibly important for the Illini this year, not just in terms of production, but also with leadership and experience.
"We have two guys who are two of the better players in the country, not just the league," Underwood said. "To know that they went through their process, they did their due diligence and felt that coming back was in their best interest, it can really kind of springboard both of them. Off the seasons they had last year, they both grew. They can really blossom and really now put themselves in leadership roles, so I'm really excited about that."
In his first season in Champaign, Shannon Jr. led the Orange and Blue in scoring with 17.2 points per game while making 30 starts and shooting 32% from 3-point range. A unanimous preseason All-Big Ten first-team selection heading into his fifth year at the college level, Shannon Jr. is excited to represent his home state once again.
"I got good feedback. Most of the feedback I got was just making decisions with my right hand and improving my outside jumper more. That's something that just comes with work, and that's something that we do at Illinois," Shannon Jr. said. "I was OK with that, so I felt real comfortable with coming back and putting myself in a better position."
One of two players to start all 33 games during the 2022-23 campaign, Hawkins enters his fourth season at Illinois looking to add on to an already impressive college resume. Averaging a career-high 32.5 minutes per game as a junior, Hawkins totaled 9.9 points, 6.3 rebounds, and 3.0 assists per game, all of which were the highest marks of his career.
Hawkins continues to work toward achieving his dream of playing in the NBA, and he will provide invaluable winning experience and leadership for the Illini this year.
"I was getting some great feedback as well," Hawkins said. "I thought it was best for me to come back to Illinois. There's great housing, a great program, and I'm familiar with everything. I think it was a mature decision for me to come back to school."
Underwood is not worried about the point guard position heading into the season
The Illini head coach is well aware of the buzz outside the program when it comes to the team's point guard situation and general depth at the position. Though he has heard the concerns from fans and media alike regarding the team's PG spot, Underwood is not worried whatsoever, spotlighting four underclassmen who he sees playing in that role throughout the season.
Rising sophomore Ty Rodgers played in all 33 games as a true freshman during the 2022-23 campaign, averaging 3.3 points, 4.0 rebounds, and 1.0 assists in his first year playing at the college level. Underwood is especially excited about Rodgers' size and playmaking abilities, both of which are important tools in the Illini head coach's system.
"Everybody seems to be worried about it except me," Underwood said. "I think one of the big mistakes I made last year is I didn't play Ty Rodgers there exclusively. Ty is 6'6" with a 6'11" wing span, and he's been very good."
Fellow sophomore Sencire Harris also played at the point at times last season, and he saw minutes in all 33 games while also making seven starts. Harris' energy and intensity on both ends of the court saw him become a reliable and productive player within the rotation in his debut campaign with the Orange and Blue. Averaging 14.5 minutes, 3.7 points, and 0.9 assists last year, Harris will likely get minutes at the point and can be a weapon for the Illini heading into the 2023-24 season.
Underwood also mentioned redshirt freshman Niccolo Moretti and true freshman Dravyn Gibbs-Lawhorn as players who could see time at PG. Moretti joined the Illini in January, giving him valuable time in the weight room and integrating himself within the system despite not making an appearance, while Gibbs-Lawhorn brings an exciting skill set heading into his first college season.
With several options at point guard, Underwood is excited by where his squad stands after all four players stood out during the team's summer trip to Spain.
"We brought in another young man last year from Italy, Nico Moretti," Underwood said. "Nico got a jump-start, so to speak, with practice time, in the weight room. Nico was fantastic on our trip to Spain. Dra Gibbs-Lawhorn, Sencire Harris. Sencire played 14, 15 games last year at that spot, and Dra is a guy who, on our trip to Spain, played there a lot.
"I feel really good about it. We're multi-dimensional. We have scoring there. We have passing. We've got size."
Underwood vows to improve on the team's outside shooting
The Illini ranked second in the Big Ten, behind only Penn State, in 3-point field-goal attempts per game last season with nearly 25 shots from beyond the arc. While the team shot a high volume of 3-pointers, they made 30.8% of those attempts, a figure that ranked last in the conference.
Underwood made it one of his top priorities this offseason to improve in that area, adding proven 3-point threats in the transfer portal.
Southern Illinois transfer and All-Missouri Valley first-team forward Marcus Domask shot 36% from deep over the course of his four seasons in Carbondale, while Oregon transfer Quincy Guerrier has shot over 31% over the last three years.
Utah Valley transfer Justin Harmon shot 34% from deep last year, and Underwood also brought in Gibbs-Lawhorn, who poses an additional threat from the 3-point line. With new faces in Champaign, the Illini are eager to improve on last year's 3-point shooting.
"Are we a better shooting team? Yes, absolutely," Underwood said. "We've addressed it, but I think it's more about the shots, the shot selection we take, and getting the right guy shooting them."
Despite plethora of new faces, Illinois has worked hard to develop chemistry on and off the court
It is no secret that the Illini will feature plenty of new names heading into the season, but that does not mean the team does not have depth and experience. With seven newcomers and eight returners, Illinois has actively taken steps to build chemistry and bonded in a variety of settings.
One of the biggest opportunities for bonding came on the team's trip to Spain over the summer. Spending nearly two weeks in Europe, the Illini played in three games, held 10 practices, and grew closer over the course of their stay.
"It was a great trip. I think it was more about the 10 practices, then the team bonding that went with that," Underwood said. "You could do that in a little bit of a relaxed atmosphere. We've got a good group of returners back, and then you throw in the new guys. We've brought grad transfers in. We have three freshmen who joined us as well. We played even minutes for the most part, and all we tried to do was develop a little chemistry.
"It gave us an opportunity to blend, for these guys to get to know each other in different ways on the court and off. It was just a fantastic trip. We had a lot of fun, and it was really a positive trip for us."
As one of the oldest guys on the team, Shannon Jr. has played an active role in helping the younger guys adapt to the college level.
"We got a good evaluation of everyone getting their roles on the team, what they needed to work on, what they could be better at, and what they were really good at," Shannon Jr. said. "We got a lot of what we needed to know from Spain, and we'll continue to go from there and get better."
Hawkins, the longest-serving player at Illinois, has also leaned into a significant leadership role as he helps his teammates understand the system and the high expectations the program has.
"The biggest thing is understanding our common goal. Everyone's all on the same page. That was a day one thing: We determined, as a group, what our common goal was," Hawkins said. "I talked to Marcus during the draft process and got feedback from him. He mentioned to me what he wanted to do was win. Quincy wants to win. Justin wants to win. They've all been a part of their own success.
"When it comes to off-the-court things, everybody has their own thing that they do, but it's still important to take part in, hang out, and get a feel for everybody. I think it's pretty easy when you have one common goal and that is to win."
