Illinois Basketball: Five things John Groce has done well

Maverick Morgan development

Throughout the history of Illinois basketball, it has been fun to watch raw players develop into good talents. These players come into the program with physical gifts and little basketball development but then turn into solid players.

A lot of people come to mind when I talk about development. The first is Luther Head. He was an athletic kid who wasn’t the best shooter but by the time he was finished at Illinois he was one of the best on the team.

More recently, I have been impressed with the development of center Maverick Morgan. He came into the Illinois program as a three-star recruit who had a decent amount of scholarship offers. Teams like Xavier, Wisconsin and West Virginia were all after his services.

Morgan always had great touch around the hoop. His shots 10-foot and in were impeccable and his scoring ability has been used ever since he came into the program. But his defense and rebounding were what hurt the team at times.

Groce has developed Morgan into a complete player since coming to Champaign. On the court, you can tell that he is actually a suitable center in the Big Ten. His stats show this trend as well.

Morgan’s points per game went from 1.5 PPG in year one to 2.5 PPG in year two to 8.3 PPG in year three and this year he is averaging 10.4 PPG. This has helped Illinois tremendously.

The rebounds have continued to prove as well. Morgan went from 1.2 RPG in year one and now he is averaging 4.5 RPG in his senior season. He also does it all at an efficient clip as well. He has a 55.2-percent field goal rate.

All of these are impressive stats and the fact that he has improved his rebounding and his defense on the court has improved means Groce has done a nice job developing Morgan.