A 6-foot-6 junior from Cleveland, Ohio, playing in his third year with the Illinois Fighting Illini, Kipper Nichols had himself another head-scratching season under head coach Brad Underwood. Starting 14 out of Illinois’ 33 games (most of those starts at the beginning of the season), Kipper’s playing time and any expectation of how he’d play at the start of a given game was anybody’s guess.
Overall from his sophomore to junior seasons, Kipper saw his points per game cut in half. His rebounding, three-point percentage and his rebounds-per game also decreased. His 2018-19 season saw averages below his career numbers in just about every statistical category.