CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – Fighting Illini women's basketball rising senior Makira Cook has been named to the 2023-24 Coaches and Media Preseason All-Big Ten Team, while the team was predicted to finish fifth in the coaches poll. The league office announced the top-five team rankings and a 10-player preseason All-Big Ten team from both the coaches and media on Wednesday.
Following a 2022-23 season that saw the Illini in the NCAA Tournament for the first time in 20 years and collect their most wins since 1999-2000, Illinois women's basketball is predicted to make its second top-five finish in the Big Ten under Shauna Green in as many seasons.
In Year 1 under Green, the Illini delivered one of the largest one-year turnarounds across the NCAA. Green led the squad to a 22-10 overall record after taking over a program that had gone 7-20 the season prior. The Illini were ranked in the Top 25 for the first time since the 2000-01 campaign. In the stands, Illinois secured the fifth-best single-season home attendance in program history during the 2022-23 campaign, and Green became the first head coach to bring in 50,000+ fans during her first season at the helm.
A key piece to the Orange and Blue's success was Cook, who earned first-team All-Big Ten and honorable-mention All-America status from multiple organizations. Cook averaged a team-best 18.3 points per game and dished out 125 assists (4.2/game) while starting all 30 games she appeared in during the 2022-23 campaign. The guard tallied a 41.4 field goal percentage and shot 34.2% from behind the arc. Her free-throw percentage of 86.6 marked the fifth-best single-season rate in program history.
As a junior, Cook tallied 548 total points, ranking 15th on the program's single-season scoring list and made her just the 23rd Illini to ever score 500 or more points in a season. She turned in a career-high 33 points at No. 5/4 Indiana (12/4/22).
Prior to last season's tie for fifth place in the regular season standings (11-7), the last time Illinois women's basketball finished in the top-five of the Big Ten regular season standings was 2012-13, when a 9-7 mark tied the squad for fifth place.
2023-24 Coaches Big Ten Preseason Rankings
1. Iowa
2. Ohio State
3. Indiana
4. Maryland
5. Illinois
2023-24 Coaches Preseason All-Big Ten Team*
Makira Cook, ILL
Mackenzie Holmes, IND (Unanimous)
Caitlin Clark, IOWA (Unanimous)
Shyanne Sellers, MD (Unanimous)
Laila Phelia, MICH (Unanimous)
Mara Braun, MINN
Alexis Markowski, NEB
Jaz Shelley, NEB
Cotie McMahon, OSU (Unanimous)
Jacy Sheldon, OSU
Makenna Marisa, PSU
*Additional player due to tie in voting
2023-24 Coaches Preseason Player of the Year
Caitlin Clark, Iowa
2023-24 Media Big Ten Preseason Rankings
1. Iowa
2. Indiana
3. Ohio State
4. Maryland
5. Michigan
2023-24 Media Big Ten Preseason All-Big Ten Team
Makira Cook, ILL
Mackenzie Holmes, IND
Caitlin Clark, IOWA (Unanimous)
Shyanne Sellers, MD
Laila Phelia, MICH
Alexis Markowski, NEB
Jaz Shelley, NEB
Cotie McMahon, OSU
Jacy Sheldon, OSU
Makenna Marisa, PSU
2023-24 Media Big Ten Preseason Player of the Year
Caitlin Clark, Iowa
