Illini freshmen Malcolm Hill and Kendrick Nunn have been the main reason Illinois has rebounded somewhat from a disastrous season and moved closer towards respectability with a strong finish. Obviously, the Senior Night train wreck versus Michigan kind of dilutes that. However, even when you include the horrific showing versus the Wolverines on Tuesday, the Illini are 4-3 since John Groce decided to start Kendrick Nunn and Malcolm Hill instead of bringing them off the bench.
Just like, ahem, one prominent Chicago sportswriter, cough cough, had been calling for since February 1st. Now that 4-3 mark with Hill and Nunn starting is certainly an improvement over the 2-8 league record Illinois was sporting before Groce made the switch.
Malcolm Hill will probably combine with Nunn to really become a part of the core nucleus for Illini basketball over the next couple of years. And that’s what matters right now, seeing how what happens tonight at the Iowa Hawkeyes and then next week in the Big Ten Tournament carries over to 2014-15. This year is a lost cause, but next year the future looks bright, how does Malcolm Hill fit in?
Michigan Coach John Beilein, a favorite to win the league’s coach of the year award recruited Hill when he was in high school. Obviously, the Michigan game was a huge setback, but it doesn’t take away from what a fantastic game Malcolm Hill had at Michigan State.
“Any time you have freshmen out there playing major minutes, they’re going to be up and down a little bit,” Beilein said.
“He’s a really talented prospect that Illinois should embrace because watching him in the Michigan State game, he’s probably going to be a pain in our side for the next three years.”
At this point, I’d say the only Illini who really have a starting spot solidified for next year are Kendrick Nunn and Rayvonte Rice. Nnanna Egwu will be there too, but only because the program is lacking so much in the big man department. So with three spots penciled in, and only two spots left, it will be interesting to see how things shape up with two new recruits Leron Black, Michael Finke coming in and three transfers.
And those three transfers are going to be key cogs, as Coach John Groce raves about how they perform in practice. Supposedly, the scout team, with Ahmad Starks, Aaron Cosby and Darius Paul is beating the first team. So this is a discussion we’ll be having a lot moving forward, and that discussion will definitely include Malcolm Hill.
Paul M. Banks owns The Sports Bank.net, an affiliate of Fox Sports. An MBA and Fulbright scholar, he’s also a frequent analyst on news talk radio; with regular segments on ESPN, NBC, CBS and Fox. A former NBC Chicago and Washington Times writer, he’s also been featured on the History Channel. President Obama follows him on Twitter (@paulmbanks)