Illinois Basketball: Timetable On Medical Redshirts for Illini
Mike Thorne Jr.
Next: Tracy Abrams
Illinois received a graduate transfer this past season that would help them in the paint against some tough Big Ten competition. That transfer was Mike Thorne Jr.
Thorne was supposed to be the big man that helped lead the Illini back to the NCAA Tournament but that hope quickly dwindled as he went down toward the end of the first half of the Iowa State game.
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Illinois struggled in 2015-16 partially because they didn’t have a Big Ten quality starting center to play tough defense and score easy baskets.
The big question now is whether or not Thorne will be given a medical redshirt and come back to the team next season.
One of the rules to acquire the medical hardship waiver is you cannot play in the second half of the season.
Thorne did try to come back in the second half of the season and played in the Indiana game. He only managed to play 16 minutes in that game.
Illinois ended up losing against Indiana by 34 points, but hopefully they also didn’t lose Thorne as well.