When the Fighting Illini made the trip to Big Ten Basketball Media Days one year ago, there were lots of unknown. Head coach Shauna Green took over a program that had won only one conference game the season prior, bringing in a new coaching staff and an almost entirely new roster in her first year at the helm of a Big Ten program.
Without any major expectations from teams around the league, Illinois put together one of its best campaigns in program history en route to a fifth-place conference finish and a berth in the NCAA Tournament.
Now, with a season of proven success under their belts, the Orange and Blue will send Green and three All-Big Ten players – Kendall Bostic, Genesis Bryant, and Makira Cook – to represent the team in Minneapolis for 2023 Big Ten Basketball Media Days on Monday.
"It's an honor. I'm really excited," said Cook, who also attended the event in 2022. "I had a lot of fun last year, just seeing all the other teams, getting to be with Coach Green and Kendall. It'll be fun to be with Gen, too, this year, and I look forward to dressing up and stuff."
After transferring to Illinois from Dayton ahead of the season, Cook immediately made her mark in Champaign. A unanimous first-team All-Big Ten selection by conference coaches and an All-America honorable-mention inclusion, Cook averaged a team-high 18.3 points per game while scoring in double figures in 27 of her 30 appearances.
A finalist for USA Basketball's Women's AmeriCup team this summer and preseason inclusion on the All-Big Ten team, Cook heads into her senior season looking to maintain Illinois' spot among the conference's elite.
"There's definitely a mentality shift because maybe it's a little bit of pressure to see if we're going to do it again or be even better than we were," Cook said. "I think we just have to stay focused on ourselves, and our results will show. For me, I have to also stay focused, but I'm just excited for the season."
Bostic is making her second consecutive appearance at the conference's media day in her third season at Illinois. Opting to stick with Green and the new coaching staff, Bostic put together one of the most productive seasons of her career, averaging nearly a double-double per game with a career-high 10.2 points and 9.8 rebounds.
Earning All-Big Ten second-team honors following her junior campaign, Bostic enters her senior season sitting 15th on the program's all-time career rebounding list and looks to continue to climb up that leaderboard.
"I feel a lot more confident on the court, off the court, and I think everybody else does," Bostic said. "Having the same head coach for two years in a row is a really big thing. Everything's pretty familiar, so now we're able to fine-tune a lot of the stuff instead of having to relearn everything. I think everybody's a lot more confident, and everyone's eager to play somebody else other than ourselves."
Bryant, who debuted for the Illini last season after spending two years at N.C. State, earned second-team all-conference accolades in her first year with the Illini. Attending Media Days for the first time is especially exciting for Bryant, who has fought through doubt and adversity to get to this point in her career.
"It means a lot," Bryant said. "Coming from where I came from and last year being the first year under my belt, I felt really excited and really honored that Coach Green wanted to pick me to be up there with them."
Collecting just the third triple-double in program history in her second start, Bryant etched her name in the program record books forever.
She recorded a new single-season record with an 89.1 free-throw percentage, while her 40.4 three-point percentage ranks sixth all-time. Given last year's success, Bryant is not taking anything for granted, and she praised the team's offseason chemistry and bonding as a key reason why the Illini are primed to thrive heading into the 2023-24 campaign.
"We've gotten really close over the summer," Bryant said. "Last year, we were all just trying to get to know each other, but we really did a lot of just hanging out, bonding, and just doing random things together. I feel like it's showing on the court."
Green make her second appearance at Big Ten Basketball Media Days and will participate in a live press conference from 9:50-10:00 a.m. CT on Big Ten Network. Green will return to BTN from at the on-court BTN studio with players from 1:10-1:20 p.m.
The Illini open their season at the end of the month, taking on Truman State in an exhibition on Oct. 30 at State Farm Center.
"We made a lot of improvements, and we're a lot more confident," Bostic said. "I think it's going to be a really great year for Illini fans."
