First off, Illinois Fighting Illini coach Brad Underwood is overly-proud of last year’s team.

They exceeded expectations by losing to eventual champion UConn in the Elite Eight despite the drama surrounding Terrence Shannon. It was a strong performance but forgive Underwood if he is perhaps a bit more excited about this season.

Although chemistry issues could exist early, the Illini are once again loaded with championship-caliber, youthful talent.

“Walking off the court after the UConn game, I felt that was an area we were old,” Underwood said recently. “That group was tremendous. We were a Final Four team that just happened to catch them in the Elite Eight. Again, setting out and getting more action guys, more guys that can do things and stay within the influx of size and shooting … I feel good about our talent.”

Gone are the likes Coleman Hawkins (Kansas State), Luke Goode (Indiana), Dain Dainja (Memphis), Shannon (Minnesota Timberwolves) and Marcus Domask (Chicago Bulls). The Illini replaced them with some veterans and high-profile youngsters.

It starts with small forward Will Riley and point guard Kasparas Jakucionis, who some feel both could make the NBA leap after their freshman seasons. Riley is a top 20 recruit while Jakucionis shined on the world stage for Lithuania in the FIBA U18 tournament this summer.

Combining them with transfers such as Carey Booth, Ben Humrichous and Kylan Boswell has Underwood thinking big.

“Part of it is you look at next-level projection to be honest,” Underwood said. “Guys that the next level likes. It’s nice to see us have some of those guys.”

Shandel Richardson is the publisher of Illinois Fighting Illini On SI. He can be reached at shandelrich@gmail.com

Follow our updates and coverage on Facebook

X: @IliniNowOnSI