After Illinois was eliminated from the NCAA Tournament, veteran wing player Tre White seemed excited about what the Fighting Illini could do next season.
“I’m fiery right now,” White told the Illini Inquirer. “I feel like I can go play another game. ... I know we’ve got a good group of returning guys, but it’s just going to be a great summer full of work, and I’m excited to bring this pain into next year.”
And then White entered the transfer portal.
So it goes in college basketball these days. Coaches have an opportunity to execute a complete one-year rebuild — as Brad Underwood did at Illinois for this season and Josh Schertz must accomplish at SLU for next season.