2023–24 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team explained

Mode:Basketball
Year:2023–24
Team:Illinois Fighting Illini
Conference:Big Ten Conference
Short Conf:Big Ten
Coachrank:7
Aprank:6
Record:29–9
Conf Record:14–6
Head Coach:Brad Underwood
Hc Year:7th
Ac1 Year:3rd
Ac2 Year:3rd
Ac3 Year:3rd
Asst Coach2:Tim Anderson
Asst Coach3:Geoff Alexander
Asst Coach4:Zach Hamer
Asst Coach5:Tyler Underwood
Ac4 Year:1st
Ac5 Year:1st
Stadium:State Farm Center
Champion:Big Ten tournament champions
Tourney:NCAA tournament
Tourney Result:Elite Eight
Captain:Coleman Hawkins
Captain2:Terrence Shannon Jr.

The 2023–24 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team represented the University of Illinois during the 2023–24 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Illini were led by seventh-year head coach Brad Underwood. The Illini played their home games at the State Farm Center in Champaign, Illinois as members of the Big Ten Conference. They defeated Wisconsin to win the Big Ten Tournament. The team was then awarded the #3 seed in the East region of the NCAA Tournament, in which they advanced their first Elite Eight since 2005. There they lost to the eventual champion, UConn.

Previous season

The Illini finished the 2022–23 season 20–13, 11–9 in Big Ten play to finish in a four-way tie for fifth place. As the No. 7 seed in the Big Ten tournament, they lost to Penn State in the second round. They received an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament as the No. 9 seed in the West Region where they lost to Arkansas in the First Round.[1]

Offseason

Niccolo Moretti joined the Illini for the second semester of the 2022-2023 academic year and took part in practice and officially joined the team this season.

After declaring for the 2023 NBA draft, both Terrence Shannon Jr. and Coleman Hawkins withdrew and returned to the Illini. Jeremiah Williams committed to transfer to Illinois on June 1, 2023, but later withdrew that commitment and rejoined the transfer portal later that month on June 23.

In August, the Illini took a ten-day trip to Spain where they played and won three games against Spanish teams.[2] None of the games were televised but the Illini provided a link to stream the second game for free on Vimeo.

Departures

NamePos.HeightWeightYear HometownReason for Departure
Jayden EppsG6'2"190Suffolk, VirginiaTransferred to Georgetown
Brandon LiebC7'0"210Deerfield, IllinoisTransferred to Illinois State
RJ MelendezG/F6'7"205Arecibo, Puerto RicoTransferred to Georgia
Matthew MayerF6'9"225Austin, TexasGraduated; Undrafted in 2023 NBA draft, signed with Houston Rockets
Skyy ClarkG6'3"200Los Angeles, CaliforniaLeft team after 13 games. Transferred to Louisville
Zacharie PerrinF6'10"220Grandfontaine, FranceLeft team after one game. Returned to France
Connor ServenF6'9"235Prairie City, IllinoisTransferred to Eastern Michigan
Paxton WardenG6'4"180Glen Ellyn, IllinoisTransferred to Lewis University

Incoming transfers

Name Number Pos. Height Weight Year Hometown Previous School
3 G/F 6'6" 215 Graduate Student Southern Illinois
13 G/F 6'8" 230 Graduate Student Oregon
4 CG 6'4" 200 Graduate Student Utah Valley
Keaton Kutcher 22 G 6'2" 200 Junior South Dakota
Max Williams 25 G 6'2" 200 Senior DePaul
Source:[3]

2023 recruiting class

Roster

Note: While listed above as a graduate student for NCAA eligibility purposes, Shannon is a fifth-year senior working towards his bachelor's degree.

Roster movement

Schedule and results

|-!colspan=9 style=""|Spain trip|-!colspan=12 style=""| Exhibition|-!colspan=12 style=""| Regular season

|-!colspan=9 style=""|Big Ten Tournament|-!colspan=9 style=""|NCAA Tournament|-Source:[4]

Rankings

See also: 2023–24 NCAA Division I men's basketball rankings.

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Illinois 63–73 Arkansas (Mar 16, 2023) Final Score . ESPN . 29 May 2023.
  2. Web site: Illini men's basketball set for ten day pre-season trip to Spain. Niekerk. Maaike. July 24, 2023 . July 29, 2023.
  3. Web site: 2023 Illinois Fighting Illini Basketball Transfers . ON3.com . 29 May 2023.
  4. Web site: 2023-24 Men's Basketball Schedule. Illinois University Athletics. 19 November 2023.