Just two months ago things were looking a little bleak for this squad. They had a new head coach in Brad Underwood but two huge players from the class of 2017 departed after John Groce was fired. This made the team extremely thin in a few areas.
But, Underwood came in and showed why he was truly a great get for athletic director, Josh Whitman. He landed a top 100 player and Illinois Mr. Basketball, Mark Smith. He had to pry him out of the greasy hands of the blue bloods but he accomplished that goal.
Underwood then snagged a big man in Greg Eboigbodin to help fill the hole left by Tilmon.