| Illinois Probable Starters (2022-23 stats listed) |
| Pos. |
No. |
Name |
Ht. |
Wt. |
Yr. |
PPG |
RPG |
APG |
Note |
| G/F |
20 |
Ty Rodgers |
6-6 |
210 |
So. |
3.3 |
4.0 |
1.0 |
51.6 FG% (48-93) |
| G |
0 |
Terrence Shannon Jr. |
6-6 |
225 |
5th |
17.2 |
4.6 |
2.8 |
Unanimous Preseason All-B1G |
| G/F |
3 |
Marcus Domask |
6-6 |
215 |
Gr. |
16.7 |
5.8 |
3.8 |
1,615 career points at SIU |
| G/F |
13 |
Quincy Guerrier |
6-8 |
230 |
Gr. |
9.0 |
4.6 |
1.0 |
1,280 career pts at Syracuse & Oregon |
| F |
33 |
Coleman Hawkins |
6-10 |
230 |
Sr. |
9.9 |
6.3 |
3.0 |
Karl Malone Award Watch List |
| Off the Bench (2022-23 stats listed) |
| Pos. |
No. |
Name |
Ht. |
Wt. |
Yr. |
PPG |
RPG |
APG |
Note |
| G |
1 |
Sencire Harris |
6-4 |
170 |
So. |
3.7 |
2.1 |
0.9 |
Third on UI in steals (27) |
| G |
2 |
Dra Gibbs-Lawhorn |
6-1 |
185 |
Fr. |
– |
– |
– |
Played in Overtime Elite league |
| G |
4 |
Justin Harmon |
6-4 |
200 |
Gr. |
14.0 |
3.8 |
2.9 |
Utah Valley leading scorer last year |
| G |
5 |
AJ Redd |
6-3 |
170 |
So. |
0.0 |
0.0 |
0.0 |
Former team manager |
| G/F |
10 |
Luke Goode |
6-7 |
205 |
Jr. |
4.0 |
1.6 |
0.4 |
42.1% 3FG (8-19) |
| G |
11 |
Niccolo Moretti |
6-1 |
170 |
r-Fr. |
– |
– |
– |
Joined UI mid-season last year |
| G |
22 |
Keaton Kutcher |
6-2 |
200 |
Jr. |
2.5 |
0.2 |
0.3 |
Transfer from South Dakota |
| G |
25 |
Max Williams |
6-2 |
200 |
Sr. |
0.0 |
0.0 |
0.0 |
Transfer from DePaul |
| F |
35 |
Amani Hansberry |
6-8 |
240 |
Fr. |
– |
– |
– |
Gatorade Maryland POY |
| F/C |
42 |
Dain Dainja |
6-9 |
255 |
r-Jr. |
9.5 |
5.5 |
0.5 |
63.6% FG (131-206) |
Career Record: 223-106 (.678), 11th year
At Illinois: 114-79 (.591), 7th year
Big Ten: 66-52 (.559)
Series History
All-Time Record vs. Eastern Illinois: Illinois leads 7-0
Record in Champaign: Same
Last Meeting: #23 Illinois 87, Eastern Illinois 57 (11/7/2022 at Champaign)
Underwood vs. Eastern Illinois: 1-0
Opening Tips
- Illinois opens its 119th season of men's basketball on Monday, hosting Eastern Illinois (7 p.m. CT, B1G+).
- The Illini have posted an all-time record of 104-14 (.881) in season openers and have won seven straight openers, including an 87-57 win over EIU to open the 2022-23 season.
- The Illini are 39-2 all-time (.951) when starting the season at State Farm Center. This includes a current streak of 26 straight wins when opening the year at SFC, a run that began on Dec. 1, 1993.
- Illinois is No. 25 in the Associated Press preseason poll, marking the fourth straight year the Illini appear in the preseason rankings (No. 8 entering 2020-21, No. 11 entering 2021-22, and No. 23 entering 2022-23).
- Head Coach Brad Underwood has Illinois ranked by the AP in four straight preseason polls for the first time since the preseason poll began in 1961-62.
- Illinois' 15-man roster features an experienced blend of returning talent and impact transfers, combined with an incoming top-25 freshman class. Eight players, including three starters, are back from the 2022-23 team, with five new players joining the Illini as Division I transfers, and two incoming freshmen.
- Illinois' eight returning players have combined to play 347 games at the NCAA Division I level with 159 combined starts by the group. Likewise, the team's five transfer players boast 304 career games with 198 starts.
- Illinois is the winningest team in the Big Ten over the last four seasons, registering a 55-25 mark in league play. The Illini finished fifth in 2023, won the regular season championship in 2022, led the conference in wins while adding a B1G Tournament crown in 2021, and finished one game back of the title in 2020.
EIU Story Lines
- Despite having campuses located 50 miles apart, Illinois will face Eastern Illinois on Monday night for just the second time in the last 21 years, but will open vs. the Panthers for the second straight season. It marks just the eighth all-time meeting. Illinois has won the previous seven games, all in Champaign.
- And while that's the official series history, there was also another recent contest between the programs. Prior to the start of Coach Brad Underwood's first season, the Illini played a hurricane relief game in Charleston on Nov. 3, 2017. The sellout crowd at Lantz Arena saw the Panthers roll in the second half to an 80-67 victory.
- Eastern Illinois Athletic Director Tom Michael was a four-year letterwinner for the Fighting Illini from 1991 through 1994. One of the best shooters in program history, Michael still holds Illini records for season (.493) and career (.449) 3-point percentage. Following his playing career, Michael spent 18 years in the U of I's Division of Intercollegiate Athletics, rising to senior associate athletic director, before taking over at EIU in 2014.
- EIU fifth-year senior forward Jermaine Hamlin began his career in Champaign, playing two seasons with the Illini in 2020 and 2021. Hamlin had the task of going up against All-America center Kofi Cockburn in daily practices.
- Illinois assistant coach Geoff Alexander served on EIU head coach Marty Simmons' staff at Evansville for five seasons from 2013 through 2017.
'Now or Never': Shannon, Hawkins Gear up for Last Dance at Illinois
Now or never. Now or never. Now or never.
Those three words would not leave Coleman Hawkins' mind. Locked in on pursuing his dreams and taking his game to the next level, Hawkins submitted his name into the 2023 NBA Draft with the intention of hearing his name called on draft night and becoming a professional basketball player...continue reading
Complete Illinois Game Notes (PDF)
