ROSEMONT, Ill. — That Illinois men's basketball was picked to finish in the top four of the Big Ten in the annual preseason media poll even after turning over essentially its entire roster can be attributed to, at least in part, the work Brad Underwood has done in restoring the program to relevancy.
The Illini get more of a benefit of the doubt now. Even if there are 10 newcomers on the roster.
The other part of Illinois landing in the top four? It's who those newcomers are. And what they might become this season.
The Illini aren't lacking for talent, and they weren't afraid to let everyone know Thursday afternoon at Big Ten media day at the Donald E. Stephens Convention Center in Rosemont.
"I'm just speaking straight talent-wise here," Illinois junior guard Ty Rodgers said. "I think this team, from top to bottom, this team is more talented than the roster we had last year. Last year was a one-of-one team. It was a special team. We made it happen. But this year the team is super talented. Super talented."
People are also reading…
Kylan Boswell was quick to agree and echoed essentially the same sentiment. The Arizona transfer is one of those 10 newcomers, but he has a pretty good idea of what a talented team looks like given he was part of a Wildcats team that went 55-16 the last two seasons. A stretch in the desert that included a Pac-12 title and Sweet 16 appearance during the 2024 NCAA tournament.
"I've played on some really good teams," Boswell said. "Especially this past season a very good team. Just off of straight talent at every position we have it's definitely one of the most talented teams I've played on for sure."
Rodgers felt comfortable with proclamations like that given what he's seen the past five months. First it was simply a new roster coming together.
Boswell was the highest profile of the transfer additions, but others like former Evansville forward Ben Humrichous received high praise after summer workouts concluded. The five-strong freshman class also included a five-star in Will Riley, one of the best young guards in Europe in Kasparas Jakucionis and workhorse big man Morez Johnson Jr.
Seeing a talented roster take shape was one thing. Watching that roster get to work during the offseason was another.
"Everybody is very professional, and everybody gets their work done," Rodgers said. "We've got some guys that come in at 5 a.m., and we've got some guys that work out at 11 at night. But everybody gets their work done.
"Guys aren't taking days off. Guys are working, whether it's coming in getting form shots in or getting a full workout in. Me seeing that, it's helped me a lot. It's given me tremendous faith."
Underwood isn't shy about touting his team's talent, either. The eighth-year Illinois coach started extolling their virtues in June when he said this team's ceiling is as high as any he's had in Champaign.
But having talent isn't enough. Turning that talent into a winning team is the challenge Underwood and the Illinois coaching staff now face.
"The first thing is making them tougher," Underwood said. "There's a lot of things that go into that. Dealing with adversity. There's a reason we're playing the schedule we're playing. We need to find out what our warts are before we jump into league play. We need to find out who can handle physicality or who can handle quickness or all those things. That's all part of it.
"Everybody talks about depth, and they're excited about it. Really, once you start coaching them and figure out who can perform and who doesn't, guys kind of eliminate themselves or they step up. I do like our offensive talent. I think we have a bunch of talented guys on that end of the court, but, again, that's only one side of the court. We've got to figure out how to be great at the other end, as well."
How Underwood pieces together his starting lineup and rotation remains the most intriguing item of the preseason for Illinois. He'll have options. Just how deep the rotation goes is the question.
"If we can get guys to perform and play as hard as they can for as long as they can and the next guy comes in and does that, then we're going to have a heck of a team," Underwood said. "It's a common theme every year. We all sit down here and talk about depth and this guy's ratings or whatever. Winning is really, really hard. The one thing I'm going to try to do, always, is put the best players on the floor that allow us to win. We'll see how that plays out.
"This group has been selfless. Committed to that. Dedicated to each other and helping each other get better. We've got a scrimmage here in a couple weeks, and we'll see what it looks like after that."
How the 200 total minutes each game are divvied up is something Rodgers said isn't a concern with this team. The idea of who gets how many won't be a problem.
"Everybody has a common goal, and that's to win," Rodgers said. "When you have guys like that buy into it, it doesn't matter. We're all competing at practice, and we know the minutes are going to lay out however we perform at practice. I think everybody is fully aware of how that works.
"To be honest, I don't think anybody on this team is worried about not playing enough. We're worried about winning. ... Everyone has a common goal, and that's to win and to be in San Antonio (for the Final Four) at the end of the season."