Illinois Basketball: Illini women have bright future despite bad season

Illinois basketball isn’t just being played on the men’s side of things. The women also have an important Big Ten Tournament coming up this week as well.

A lot of people haven’t paid too much attention to the women’s basketball team this season for one reason or another. They finished 8-21 overall and 3-13 in Big Ten play. This wasn’t dead last in the conference, though.

Illinois is the No. 12 seed this Wednesday as they take on the No. 13 seed Nebraska in what should be a pretty good game. The Illini actually pummeled the Cornhuskers in the lone regular season meeting 79-59. Hopefully, the same result happens this week as well.

If Illinois beats Nebraska they advance on to play No. 5 Purdue. This could be another good game as the Illini only lost to the Boilermakers in the regular season by eight points. With the way the Illini are fighting right now that could end up being a pretty good game.

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There is some hope for this basketball team in the future as well. They might not have the record that many fans had hoped but they are young and from what I have watched this year, they are developing and learning under head coach, Matt Bollant.

Forward Alex Wittinger is the leading scorer for the Illini with 14.4 points per game. She is only a sophomore this year so I look for her to continue to develop as a scorer and a rebounder. She averages 8.7 rebounds per game as well.

Brandi Beasley is a tenacious guard who was only slotted as a three-star coming out of the class of 2016 but has since dominated on the floor. I have been impressed with her play this season as she has averaged 13.4 points, 5.4 rebounds and 3.9 assists per game. She is just a true freshman this season as well. The future is bright for Beasley.

I also like the emergence of Petra Holesinska as well. She is averaging 10.1 points and 4 rebounds per game. Along with Beasley, Holesinska is a freshman as well. These two will be crucial for the future of this program.

Illinois also has a solid class coming for 2017. Channise Lewis is a four-star guard who is the No. 77 player in the class of 2017. She will help Beasley next season with the ball handling. I have no doubt this duo will rival Te’Jon Lucas and Trent Frazier on the men’s team.

I also like the size that Illinois is bringing in as well. Jnaya Walker is another member of the class of 2017. She is a 6-foot-1 recruit who is rated as a three-star. I think her size will help the Illini in the paint next season.

Guard Addaya Moore will also be joining the other two in the class of 2017. She is a player who I think could play almost anywhere on the court. In high school, she averaged 19 points, 6.8 rebounds and 2.7 blocks per game. That is quite impressive and the Illini need that type of production.

So while Illinois is unquestionably down right now in the women’s game, I think the future is bright.

Next: Illini win over Nebraska did more than keep postseason alive

The team is thin right now and some changes might need to be made, but I think there is talent in this program and more is to come.