2024-2025 College Basketball Preview: Illinois Fighting Illini

Check out our entire college basketball season preview!

The college basketball season is less than three weeks away, and here at FTN Fantasy we have you covered for what promises to be another thrilling year of upsets and incredible finishes. I will be taking you around the country with a betting preview of the major conferences. I recap the betting trends from last season, list projected starters, preview the season, identify a key player, and reveal how I’m backing or fading each team.

Let’s continue with the largest conference in college basketball, the Big Ten. This conference underwent massive changes, adding four new teams from the Pac-12 in Washington, USC, Oregon and UCLA. The expansion has not diluted the competitive level of the Big Ten, ranking third (same as last year) in KenPom preseason rankings.

Let’s check out our betting preview for the Illinois Fighting Illini. I give a huge shout-out to our newest contributor, Gus Kearns, for his extensive research on the Big Ten.

2024-2025 College Basketball Season Preview: Illinois Fighting Illini

Conference: Big Ten
Head Coach: Brad Underwood (8th season)
2023-2024 Record: 29-9 (14-6)
ATS: 21-14-3
O/U: 26-12
Projected Starters: GKylan Boswell; G Kasparas Jakucionis; G Ty Rodgers; F Ben Humrichous; F Will Riley;

Brad Underwood can certainly coach. I saw this Illinois team against Florida Atlantic Dec. 5 and never envisioned they would be in the Elite Eight. They appeared too dependent on Terrence Shannon with an overrated (at least I thought) Marcus Domask and the enigmatic Coleman Hawkins as the other main scoring options. Even with Shannon missing six games due to an off-the-court issue, the Illini rolled to a 14-6 record in the conference, finishing in second place behind eventual National Championship Finalist Purdue. They now lose four of their five starters, including Shannon and Hawkins, and the majority of bench depth.

Their only returning starter is junior Ty Rodgers (6.2 PPG, 5.3 RPG), who will be the leader but not an offensive anchor. He failed to attempt a 3P last season, but only shot 58.5% from the free-throw line. Illinois added five transfers in Kylan Boswell (Arizona), Ben Humrichous (Evansville), Tre White (Louisville), Carey Booth (Notre Dame) and Jake Davis (Mercer). That’s a solid, but unspectacular group that ranked seventh-best inside in the Big Ten. However, Underwood did secure the 10th-best freshman recruiting class, led by five-star forward Will Riley, the highest-ranked Illini recruit since Dee Brown in 2002. Power forward Morez Johnson Jr. was also the top-ranked player in Illinois last season.

Key Player: Will Riley

I expect Riley to start, although Underwood could choose 7-foot-1 center Tomislav Ivisic from Croatia, depending on the matchup. But the key to an upside for Illinois is Riley’s impact, especially after losing four of their five starters. Riley can shoot from the outside and is super-smooth to the basket. He can also lead the break with a fantastic handle. He reminds me of Jalen Rose with his versatility and is critical to Illinois matching a lofty preseason Big Ten media ranking of fourth in the conference.

Projection