CHAMPAIGN — Tracy Abrams will play in Tuesday’s first round of the NIT for his third head coach, the lone Illinois player to span the entirety of changes from Bruce Weber to John Groce and now Jamall Walker.
Six years into his Illini career, Abrams called his circumstances “unique.”
Illinois’ 6:15 p.m. tipoff against Valparaiso at State Farm Center comes 75 1/2 hours after Groce was fired as Illini coach by athletic director Josh Whitman.
That Illinois (18-14) is playing in the NIT for the third time in four years, having missed the NCAA tournament every season since Groce’s first in 2012-13, is part of the reason Walker is now leading the team on an interim basis.