The starting lineup has changed multiple times this season for the Illinois basketball team.
With a new head coach, this is expected. Brad Underwood is trying to get a feel for who fits best in what position on the floor. There is also the factor of pure skill as well. Do some of these players belong on the court as starters or does Underwood just have to use what he has until new talent comes into the program?
The starting lineup the last two games was as follows; Trent Frazier, Aaron Jordan, Mark Alstork, Leron Black and Greg Eboigbodin.
Greg Eboigbodin has taken over for Michael Finke who continues to be sidelined with a concussion. The other shift in the lineup was starting Aaron Jordan over Kipper Nichols. This was an interesting move considering Nichols has actually been playing pretty well lately. He has averaged 13.5 points per game in his last seven contests.
There are a lot of holes in the lineup that has been starting. Illinois needs to find some players to fill these holes so they can compete next season. So, let’s identify the holes on the roster.
The first position to look at is the No. 1 guard. Frazier is going to start next season and his backup will hopefully still be Te’Jon Lucas. Honestly, this is the one position I am most comfortable with right now. Frazier is a Big Ten starting guard and Lucas is a quality backup. This combination will do great things the next two seasons.
As the roster constitutes right now, Jordan is the No. 2 guard for the Illini. I would say Mark Smith and Da’Monte Williams are the backups to him as well. This is an area I want to address for the Illini next season.
Illinois needs a capable No. 2 guard on their team and right now, I don’t see a Big Ten level starter. I feel like we know the floor and ceiling with Jordan. His floor already happened under John Groce, and his ceiling is what we are seeing this season. He is a solid backup type of player in the Big Ten at best. Realizing what the ceiling and floor are for Smith and Williams is the bigger question.
I think the ceiling for both Smith and Williams is starter level in the Big Ten, but they are both clearly not there yet. I don’t have confidence they will be there next season either. That is why Illinois needs to fill this void right now. This is where incoming guard Ayo Dosunmu comes into play.
Dosunmu will likely take the No. 2 guard role next season to make one of the best backcourts in the Big Ten with Frazier. With Dosunmu being so highly rated, I would assume he is Big Ten ready immediately. That gives the Illini two Big Ten quality starters at the No. 1 and No. 2 guard spots. Behind Dosunmu would then be Smith and Williams with Jordan likely moving to the No. 3 spot.

Now we are onto the No. 3 spot on the Illini. The starter recently has been Alstork. He is going to be graduating next season leaving a hole at this position. Kipper Nichols would then likely step up into the starting role with Jordan as his backup. This is another area that needs to be addressed but unlike the No. 2 guard area, Illinois doesn’t have a plan for the No. 3 spot yet.
Nichols has been up and down this season with his play but recently, he has played pretty well. Do I think he is a Big Ten caliber starter? Well, sometimes yes and sometimes no. I would prefer him to be a solid backup for the Illini. I believe that is his ceiling. The issue for the Illini is they only have two scholarships available right now for 2018 and they would need to use one here. Illinois needs a Big Ten level No. 3 for next season.
The No. 4 spot is a little more stable with Leron Black being the projected starter next year. He is a Big Ten level player, making the Illini likely to have three this upcoming season. But, behind Black, there really isn’t anything. He needs a suitable backup. This is where Michael Finke could come into play.
Finke is projected as the starting No. 5 next season, but I would really like him as the backup No. 4. That is his true position. He can’t be on the block or he will get dominated most of the time. Since Finke can slide over to the No. 4 backup spot that would leave the No. 5 spot wide open.
The second scholarship I want Illinois to use is on a big man. The biggest need on this Illini team is getting someone to fill in the No. 5 spot. If Finke would move to the No. 4 spot that means Greg Eboigbodin would be the starter heading into next season. His backup would then be Matic Vesel most likely. That means Illinois needs to find a Big Ten level big man because neither of these two are that.
Eboigbodin has the potential to grow into a borderline starting Big Ten big man, but he is pretty far away from that right now. Vesel is an unknown right as well. What Illinois needs to do is find a graduate transfer big man who can play next season. This will enable them to potentially have a Big Ten caliber starter at the No. 5.
Next: 5 takeaways from the Illini loss to Indiana
There are many areas I want to improve on the Illinois basketball team, but the Illini only have two scholarships remaining. So, the two areas that I really want to focus on right now is finding a Big Ten caliber starting No. 3 and No. 5. These are the two glaring holes in the lineup.