The 2023-24 Illinois Fighting Illini basketball team has done a tremendous job of putting the 2022-23 Illini basketball season far far out of memories. Good riddance, as that campaign brought us the strange experience of strongly disliking our own favorite team.
While it is common to sometimes be happy your favorite team’s season is over, and to look forward to that ending well before mid-season, last year was a lot more than just that.
That Illini basketball team wasn’t just frustrating or disappointing. They were annoying, irritating and mentally exhausting. They were legitimately unlikable.
You’re More Familiar With These Guys Now
Last year’s team was very transfer heavy, and with all the Name, Image & Likeness money these guys got, it made them come off as ultra-mercenary.
And I say that as someone who has been calling for college players to get paid for well over a decade.
These guys absolutely should get their piece of the pie, and they definitely should have the freedom to transfer whenever and wherever they want.
But you, as a fan, have every right to not feel the same kind of attachment to a program building their roster that way, as you would towards a more recruit-and-developmental kind of program.
It’s basically the same principle as the Reliaquest Bowl opt-outs.
Devon Witherspoon, Sydney Brown and Chase Brown absolutely should forgo the bowl game, to focus on their NFL Draft stock, if they think that’s the right call for them.
But you as a fan have every right to then have less interest and excitement in the Reliaquest Bowl.
Anyway, this team’s core nucleus is the same as last year’s and now you “know” these guys, and they have been much easier to root for, thus far, this season.
You Know What to Expect From Coleman Hawkins Now
It was easy to like the teams that were based around the core nucleus of Ayo Dosunmu, Kofi Cockburn, Trent Frazier and Da’Monte Williams. You followed these guys, closely, all the way from the recruiting process to the end of their collegiate careers. It was easy to get attached to that team, because you quasi-“knew” them.
And you now “know” who Coleman Hawkins is.
If his maddening inconsistency angers you, then it’s your problem.
Yes, he’ll get another triple double this season, and again, his NBA Draft stock will rise.
However, he’ll also make plenty of plays that make you ask yourself out loud “has this guy ever played basketball before? Seriously, has he? What was that?”
This is him. Embrace the roller coaster and enjoy the ride.
Matthew Mayer is Gone
OMG! What an awful one year experiment this guy was! The loss of Mayer is addition by subtraction, as he was just antithetical to the idea of leadership. His goofy display in the NCAA Tournament loss was perfectly paradigmatic of his time in Champaign.
He was talented, yes, and at some times productive, but his toxic persona just held last year’s team back.
Point Guard Who Transfers Incessantly is Long Gone
Talk about addition by subtraction! That 5-star recruit at point guard, I forget his name right now, but the dude who transferred in from Kentucky, and then left Illinois to transfer to UK’s biggest rival, is now long gone and that is good for everybody involved.
Not only was he underwhelming on the court, but his level of drama and attention-seeking off of it was egregious.
Typically that comes with the territory when you sign a guy who transfers schools, on both levels, as excessively as this guy does.
This guy, ol’ what’s his name, announced that he was re-opening his recruitment at the very same moment that Illinois got eliminated from the Big Ten Tournament. Also, guy whose name I can’t remember, picked the exact moment Illinois was eliminated from the NCAA Tournament to announce his commitment to Louisville.
It’s more than safe to say that this guy has some real bitterness towards the Illini basketball program, and some anger management issues to work on.
They Dominated the Braggin’ Rights Game
Don’t why Brad Underwood’s teams struggle so much in this series, but this time around they dominated. Last year’s team clearly had no interest in being there, and it showed.
But there was a story arc of rivalry game redemption going here. This one always gets fans fired up, so to get a W, and by a large margin, was huge!
They Are Much Better Motivated Now
One of my favorite press conference tropes is coach telling the media “my guys are just not motivated.” Yes, and if only you had access to somebody whose job it was to do that. If only you knew somebody who gets paid millions of dollars to do exactly that task.
It happens all the time, in every sport, and Brad Underwood did it at least twice last season. This team was not #EveryDayGuys, it was more like #WhenTheyFeelLikeItGuys or #SometimesMotivatedGuys
See the item above for a classic example. Underwood has done a fine job of making sure this didn’t happen again this season.
Last Year’s Team Had An Inverse Learning Curve, Not Likely to Happen Again
Because they peaked in early December, accruing some impressive early season wins that aged well as the campaign went on, we all thought that Illini basketball team was something more than they really were. We thought they were complicated and holding some untapped potential.
We thought they would turn it on again when it mattered most. They didn’t.
However, this Illini basketball team seems to be developing as the year goes on. Never mind the home loss to Maryland this past weekend, as those things just tend to happen, once or twice, over the course of a long season.
Plus it’s the Terrapins, you know how much Underwood has struggled against them. That L was an aberration, not the trend.
This is a squad that seems to be learning something new and better each game, and that makes them very easy to root for.
Paul M. Banks is the owner/manager of The Sports Bank. He’s also the author of “Transatlantic Passage: How the English Premier League Redefined Soccer in America,” and “No, I Can’t Get You Free Tickets: Lessons Learned From a Life in the Sports Media Industry.”
He’s written for numerous publications, including the New York Daily News, Sports Illustrated and the Chicago Tribune. He regularly appears on NTD News and WGN News Now, while writing for the International Baseball Writers Association of America. You can follow the website on Twitter.