Illini basketball non-conference season is now officially over, and Illinois is set to resume conference play tonight at Minnesota. Twelve games in, where does Illinois stand?
The short answer: Illinois is pretty good, I think?
But… it’s hard to really know. Between injuries to Andre Curbelo and Trent Frazier, (non-COVID) sickness for Jacob Grandison and Benjamin Bosmans-Verdonk, and Kofi Cockburn’s suspension, Illinois has only played two games at what could be called “full strength.” And even in those two games, freshman Luke Goode was out with back spasms. Plus, Austin Hutcherson is out for the season, so full strength looks different now than it did at the beginning of the year.