When Adonis De La Rosa committed to the Illini as a transfer from the Kent State Golden Flashes, myself and others were hopeful that Brad Underwood had found his go-to big man for the season. With Giorgi Bezhanishvili and Samba Kane coming in as freshmen, and Greg Eboigbodin transferring to Northeastern, the Illini were in serious need of anyone over 6-foot-8 to play the five.
However, it was clear early on that De La Rosa could not regain his pre-ACL injury form in 2019. Fortunately for the Illini, Bezhanishvili proved more than capable of playing starter minutes at the five, which allowed De La Rosa to come in off the bench.