Picture the ferris wheel at Navy Pier in Chicago. Except instead of moving slowly, and people calmly getting on and off the ferris wheel, picture that you have to get a running jump to get on.
That’s what this offseason of college basketball has been like. Put the NFL, NBA, MLB, and college football offseasons together, subtract compensating the athletes fairly for their work, and that’s what you have. Whether you like it or not, that’s what the pandemic among other trends has done to the college basketball offseason.
Add a No. 2 AP ranking, and this offseason for Illinois basketball has been as eventful as any team in the country.