As we trek into our big ten basketball previews, we will touch on the Illinois Fighting Illini. We attempted to go in alphabetical order, but the ABCs are hard and started with Indiana over Illinois. So from here on out, we will go in alphabetical order and ignore the earlier snafu.
Without further ado and humiliation, let’s take a quick look at the Fighting Illini or as I like to call them, the Fighting Brad Underwoods.
Illinois Fighting Illini
Head coach: Brad Underwood (fifth season)
2020-21 record: 24-7 (16-4)
Season finish: NCAA Tournament Round of 32 loss to Loyola Chicago
What comes back: The Fighting Illini will lose one of the top players in the conference in Ayo Dosunmu, but will return another one of the top players in the conference in Kofi Cockburn, who tested the NBA Draft waters and the transfer portal, but decided to return to the Illini.