The Illinois basketball team is now 15 games into their 2017-18 campaign and the tides are, hopefully, turning with a solid finish to the non-conference slate.
Up to this point in the year, the Illinois season has been somewhat of a roller coaster. Every single game has been close but they couldn’t close out a few of them. That is why they sit with five losses on the season already.
I have been impressed with multiple individuals on this team as well. I wanted to select the one player who has surpassed expectations and has been a saving grace to this team, though. There were multiple to choose from.
First, I narrowed the list down to just three players. I have been most impressed with Leron Black, Trent Frazier and Aaron Jordan this season.
Jordan has been a surprise to this Illinois basketball team. He went from being forgotten on the bench under John Groce to being one of the important players who, arguably, deserves a starting spot on the team. That is how far Jordan has come under the new regime of Brad Underwood.
Despite a slight dip in his numbers over the last six games – 8 points and 3.8 rebounds per game – Jordan has done a great job the entire year. His season average is up to 10.9 points, 3.7 rebounds and 1.2 steals per game. Those are good numbers from a starter, let alone someone coming off the bench.
Black is another player who has done some amazing things this season as well. He came into this Illinois program with high expectations and I think it is fair to say, for the majority of his career, he has been disappointing.
I expected Black to tear up his competition early on in his career but that didn’t happen. We are finally starting to see the full potential Black has inside. He has been great this season. He now sits with an average of 14.8 points and 5.9 rebounds per game. Without him, the paint would be more vulnerable and Illinois wouldn’t have any inside scoring presence.
Jordan and Black have been sensational for the Illini, but the player I am going to say I have been impressed with the most the season has been Frazier.
Frazier entered the Illinois program as a fringe top 100 player by every recruiting site. I am not sure why they didn’t take his game seriously, though. He was the Class 9A Player of the Year in the state of Florida. That alone is an extremely impressive feat.
I didn’t know what to expect out of Frazier this season, though. He wasn’t the one being talked about from the class of 2017 but everyone knew he had tremendous talent, mainly on the scoring side of things. There is no doubt he has exceeded expectations so far.
Frazier has a season average of 9.5 points, 2.3 assists and 1.7 steals per game through the first 15 contests. These numbers don’t tell the story, though. As of late, Frazier has been getting an increased amount of minutes which in turn enables him to produce more. He has done just that.
Over the last six games, Frazier has an average of 14.6 points, 1.8 assists and 2.5 steals per game. He has been sensational getting to the rim and creating his own shots. He takes some crazy shots at times but like Brad Sturdy of Rivals said, it is a cringe face…then a WOW!
Next: 3 takeaways from the win over Grand Canyon
Illinois now enters Big Ten play and this is where Frazier is going to need to continue his great production. This is the real test. Big Ten Basketball is a level higher than what he has played so far this season. Only time will tell but if he does well in conference play, the college basketball world better watch out.