Men’s college basketball preview: Illinois starts over after Elite Eight run

Remember last year's Illinois basketball team? Piled up 29 wins, won the Big Ten tournament, reached the Elite Eight before losing to eventual champ Connecticut?

Well, forget about that team. It's gone, almost completely.

In the current era of college basketball, the transfer portal spins like a revolving door in a tornado. The Illini expect to again challenge for a Big Ten title, but there's just one player from last year's squad likely to get playing time, sophomore guard Dra Gibbs-Lawhorn.

On Friday night in Champaign, the Illini held a ring ceremony for last year's team, but most of those players are either in the pros or at new schools. Terrence Shannon Jr. was at the United Center on Thursday playing for the Timberwolves, while Marcus Domask is with the Windy City Bulls.

The list of players who moved on to new homes includes Coleman Hawkins (Kansas State), Dain Dainja (Memphis), Luke Goode (Indiana), Amani Hansberry (West Virginia) and Niccolo Moretti (Florida Atlantic).

“The maturity of that group was really special,” Illini coach Brad Underwood said this week. “That team was fun to coach. It was a special year.”

The new group includes three intriguing college basketball newcomers. One is 7-foot-1 Tomislav Ivisic from Croatia, who had Underwood raving this week.

“His versatility we hope causes other teams problems,” Underwood said. “He's got length, he's smart, he's imposing. Offensively, he's a buffet line. He can pass it, he can step out and shoot 3s. He's a guy that can go right hand, left hand in the post. He's a very good runner. Very excited about his upside.”

Also on the list are 6-8 freshman Will Riley, who scored 31 points in the season opener against Eastern Illinois; and 6-6 freshman Kasparas Jakucionis from Lithuania.

Five years ago, guys like Ivisic and Jakucionis weren't eligible to play college hoops in the United States because they've been pros in Europe. In the NIL era, there are fewer rules, if any. Ivisic has a twin brother, Zvonimir, playing at Arkansas.

The rest of the rotation is mostly transfers: 6-9 grad student Ben Humrichous from Evansville, 6-2 junior Kylan Boswell from Arizona, 6-7 junior Tre White from Louisville, and 6-10 sophomore Carey Booth from Notre Dame. Another player to watch is 6-9 freshman Morez Johnson Jr., last year's Illinois Mr. Basketball from Thornton H.S.

The Big Ten race is expected to be wide open and several contenders are newcomer-heavy like the Illini. Purdue was the highest-ranked Big Ten team in the preseason AP poll at No. 14.

Northwestern

Coach Chris Collins has literally done the impossible, taking the Wildcats to three NCAA Tournaments, including the past two. Next they'll try to survive life without star guard Boo Buie, now a two-way player with the Knicks.

NU does have a nice veteran nucleus with forward Brooks Barnhizer and Nick Martinelli (Glenbrook South), along with two players who missed the end of last season with injuries, guard Ty Berry and center Matthew Nicholson.

Some newcomers to watch are 6-4 Fairfield grad transfer Jalen Leach, 6-6 Denver transfer Justin Mullins (Oak Park), 6-6 freshman Angelo Ciaravino (Mt. Carmel) and 6-3 freshman K.J. Windham from Indianapolis.

“Someone showed me, we maybe have the most returning percentage of minutes in the league,” Collins said at Big Ten media days. “We've got to lean on that. There's going to be a lot of new teams. Our formula has got to be our continuity, our chemistry.”

Loyola

A promising season at Loyola ended with a thud in the Atlantic 10 tournament, so the Ramblers had to settle for the NIT and a first-round loss to Bradley.

Entering his fourth season, coach Drew Valentine has just one of his top four scorers back. That's 6-5 senior Des Watson, who averaged 12.6 points last year. Digging a little deeper, though, the Ramblers do return five of their top nine scorers, so it's time for some players to take on bigger roles. Junior non-transfer Jayden Dawson tops this list, averaging 16.5 points in the first two games, along with 6-10 sophomore center Miles Rubin.

Some newcomers to watch are 6-9 senior Jalen DeLoach, who has played at VCU and Georgia; along with point guard Justin Moore from Drexel, who made third-team all-CAA last year.

“I think we have a shot to be one of the best defensive teams we’ve ever had here,” Valentine told the Loyola Phoenix. “Last year, we finished No. 1 in defense in the A-10 and 28th in the country. This group should be better.”

DePaul

The Blue Demons have trudged through 20 seasons without a trip to the NCAA Tournament and it's been 17 years since they posted a winning record in the Big East. So new head coach Chris Holtmann faces a tough task and is starting from scratch. No player who appeared in a game last season is on the roster.

Holtmann, the former Ohio State and Butler head coach, has 10 transfers and four freshmen on the roster. The list includes local players Conor Enright (Mundelein) from Drake, Troy D'Amico (Notre Dame) from Southern Illinois and freshman Nate Kasher (Glenbrook South).

Through two games, the leading scorers are 6-5 grad transfer Isaiah Rivera, who played at Colorado State and UIC; along with 6-2 guard Jacob Meyer from Coastal Carolina.

Others

· UIC has a new head coach, Rob Ehsan. He was head coach at UAB from 2016-20, then spent the past three seasons as an assistant at Stanford. This is another transfer-heavy roster, though the Flames do have a couple regulars back in 6-5 Ethan Pickett and 6-7 Filip Skobalj. Guard Javon Jackson, a Utah State transfer, scored 21 points in the season opener.

· Northern Illinois has posted a winning record in the MAC just once in the past 18 seasons. While head coach Rashon Burno is beginning his fourth season, the top seven scorers from last year have moved on. One player to watch is 6-5 guard James Dent Jr., a Western Illinois transfer. Two local players, Tsvet Sotirov (Rolling Meadows) and Mo Sall (Downers Grove North) are new to the roster.

· Chicago State finished 13-19 last season (with a win over Northwestern), which ties for the program's best record since 2009. Scott Spinelli has been promoted to head coach and he brought in sons Joe and Gabe as transfers.

· Hinsdale native Brian Wardle is starting his 10th season at Bradley, so the Braves actually have some continuity, returning six of the top eight scorers, led by 5-8 senior guard Duke Deen. A freshman to watch is Jaquan Johnson from Milwaukee.

· Third-year Illinois State coach Ryan Pedon used to work under Chris Holtmann at Ohio State and is hoping to snap the Redbirds' run of five straight losing seasons. After losing the top two scorers from last year, a couple of sophomore guards, Johnny Kinziger and Ty Pence, have led ISU in the opening week.

· Southern Illinois has a new head coach, Scott Nagy. He's the son of former Illini assistant Dick Nagy and spent the past eight years as head coach at Wright State.