BIG TEN TEAM PREVIEW #1 ILLINOIS FIGHTING ILLINI

Illinois enters this season seeking their 6th straight NCAA tournament appearance under head coach Brad Underwood. The Fighting Illini went 22-13 last season and were a six seed in march. They ended up losing in the second round to Kentucky. Illinois returns a couple of their best guys from last year's team and they made some impactful additions this offseason. Illinois fans rightfully have high expectations again for the team this season.

Projected Lineup:

G Mihalio Petrovic

G Kylan Boswell

G Andrej Stojakovic (Cal transfer)

F Zvonimir Ivisic (Arkansas transfer)

C Tomislav Ivisic

Should be a pretty familiar looking team this season for Illinois. They did lose Kasparas Jakucionis and Will Riley who both had outstanding freshman seasons for them last year. Both players went in the first round of the NBA draft. The three starters from last year's team who will return are 6-foot-2 guard Kylan Boswell, 6-foot-9 forward Ben Humrichous, and 7-foot-1 center Tomislav Ivisic. Starting with Ivisic, he's 22 years old but this will only be his second season of college hoops. Ivisic was outstanding in his freshman season last year. He started in 31 of his 32 games, and averaged 13 points and 7.7 rebounds. Ivisic should be one of the best bigs in the conference this season. Ben Humrichous transferred in from Evansville before last season. He was somewhat underwhelming in his first year at Illinois. He still started in 26 of his 35 games but shot just 37.5 percent from the field, averaging 7.6 points and 3.8 rebounds. Kylan Boswell is another player back for another season at Illinois. He started in 34 of 35 games last season and averaged 12.3 points and 3.4 assists per game.

In the transfer portal, head coach Brad Underwood only brought in two players. Both of them were heavily recruited and play a big role for Illinois this season. They brought in 7-foot-2 Arkansas transfer Zvonimir Ivisic who will be teaming up with his brother next season. Ivisic is on his third school in three years now, he spent his freshman season at Kentucky. Illinois also brought in 6-foot-7 California transfer Andrej Stojakovic. Stojakovic could easily lead Illinois in scoring next season. He's a fomer five-star recruit that can score in so many different ways. Last season he shined on a pretty bad Cal team, averaging 17.9 points and 4.7 boards. Illinois also added two international recruits who should be a big part of this season's squad. 6-foot-3, 22 year old point guard Mihalio Petrovic from Serbia. He is one of the top international players going into next season and is expected to start at point guard for Illinois. They also brought in 6-foot-9 power forward David Mirkovic from Montenegro who is also a top international recruit.

Another very intriguing roster for Brad Underwood and Illinois this season. They have two of the best players in the conference in Andrej Stojakovic and Tomislav Ivisic. The duo of the Ivisic brothers makes Illinois one of the tallest starting lineups in the country. They both averaged over a block a game last season so Illinois should have some outstanding rim protection next season.

Prediction: 4th in Big Ten