Illinois basketball players who have the most NBA talent

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NEW YORK, NY – MARCH 18: Head coach Brad Underwood of the Stephen F. Austin Lumberjacks reacts in the first half against the West Virginia Mountaineers during the first round of the 2016 NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament at Barclays Center on March 18, 2016 in the Brooklyn borough of New York City. (Photo by Al Bello/Getty Images) /

The Illinois basketball team has a lot of great players taking the court this upcoming season.

Some of these players haven’t stepped foot in a game on the wooden floors of the State Farm Center but the potential is there for them to be special players for the Illini. That potential really gets me excited for the future of this program and the future of the young athletes.

The NBA could potentially be in the future of some of these players. That hasn’t happened too often in the history of the Illinois program, though. The last player to don the Orange and Blue and be drafted into the NBA was Meyers Leonard back in 2012. That was five years ago.

Before Leonard, James Augustine was the most recent NBA Draft pick. We have to travel back 11 years to find the second most recent NBA selection from Illinois. Why is there such a decline in NBA talent? I blame coaching and recruiting, but there could be other factors as well.

That could be all changing, though. There are players who will suit up this season who have NBA talent and now the Illini have a coach who can get them to the next level.

Here are the Illini players who have the most NBA talent.

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