Writing Illini
Fansided

Illinois Basketball: Player expectations for 2017-2018 season

By Rees Woodcock

March 17, 2017; Sacramento, CA, USA; General view of the court before the game between the Oregon Ducks and the Iona Gaels in the first round of the 2017 NCAA Tournament at Golden 1 Center. Mandatory Credit: Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports
March 17, 2017; Sacramento, CA, USA; General view of the court before the game between the Oregon Ducks and the Iona Gaels in the first round of the 2017 NCAA Tournament at Golden 1 Center. Mandatory Credit: Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports /
facebooktwitterreddit
Prev
7 of 10
Next
Illinois basketball
Nov 18, 2016; Indianapolis, IN, USA; A general view of the NBA basketball going trough the hoop prior to the game between the Indiana Pacers and the Phoenix Suns at Bankers Life Fieldhouse. Mandatory Credit: Trevor Ruszkowski-USA TODAY Sports /

Mark Smith

Illinois has two new Marks coming to the team this off-season. Alstork is going to be a great scorer for this basketball team and the other Mark should be a great all-around player. Mark Smith is the prized commitment from the class of 2017.

Smith is coming into the Illinois basketball program as arguably the biggest get since Meyers Leonard picked the Illini back in 2008. He was a five-star big man ranked No. 19 in the nation. People can make an argument if Smith wasn’t a late bloomer he would have been ranked that high as well.

Illinois was the first to jump on Smith in the recruiting game and then the blue bloods pounced. The Illini came out victorious, though, and beat out teams like Kentucky, Duke and Michigan State.

Smith is going to be a legend at Illinois. He already won the Illinois Mr. Basketball award this past season, and he is going to be a starter day one. Look for him to be the Illini starter at the No. 2 spot.

There were rumblings that Smith wants to handle the ball if he came to Illinois and that won’t be a problem. The team in 2005 had two guards who handled the ball in Dee Brown and Deron Williams. That is what Lucas and Smith could be for the Illini once again.

Expect Smith to be electric when he comes into Champaign. He will average 25 minutes per game and in that time score about 12 points and have around 5.4 assists per game. Smith is exactly what this team needs and will be a driving force behind a postseason run.

Home/Illinois Basketball