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Our predictions for Illinois Basketball’s 2023-24 season

I wrote an initial prediction prior to the Kansas exhibition, and it was pretty bleak. Essentially, I was ready to predict that lack of a true point guard was going to put a hard ceiling on what this team is able to accomplish.

What I saw on Sunday against the Jayhawks almost seemed like a direct challenge to my concerns. Going into the game, I was convinced that Ty Rodgers’ inexperience was going to be consistently exploited by opponents. Sure enough, he didn’t set the world on fire during the scrimmage: he matched his 3 assists with 3 turnovers and his best plays were around the basket rather than at around half-court.