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Illinois Basketball: Which Illini players hit expectations in 2017-2018

By Rees Woodcock

EAST LANSING, MI - FEBRUARY 20: Head coach Brad Underwood of the Illinois Fighting Illini gives instructions to his players during a game against the Michigan State Spartans at Breslin Center on February 20, 2018 in East Lansing, Michigan. (Photo by Rey Del Rio/Getty Images)
EAST LANSING, MI - FEBRUARY 20: Head coach Brad Underwood of the Illinois Fighting Illini gives instructions to his players during a game against the Michigan State Spartans at Breslin Center on February 20, 2018 in East Lansing, Michigan. (Photo by Rey Del Rio/Getty Images) /
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PISCATAWAY, NJ – FEBRUARY 25: Kipper Nichols
PISCATAWAY, NJ – FEBRUARY 25: Kipper Nichols /

Kipper Nichols

Expectation: Hit

Kipper Nichols showed signs he was going to be a good player two years ago. He only played for a little over half the season but he was really good when he saw action. Heading into last season, I had decently high expectations for this kid.

Through the non-conference and into the start of Big Ten play, I would have given Nichols the tag of ‘did not hit’ expectation. He wasn’t playing great basketball and he dealt with an injury that hurt his production. But, he got healthy and loosened up a bit. He ended up really turning it on the second half of the season and was sensational for the Illinois program.

Nichols had two huge games for the Illini this season. The first one was against No. 6 Michigan State. He dropped 27 points that game and was the reason why the team was even competitive. He went 9-of-14 from the field. The other game was the final game of the year against Iowa in the Big Ten Tournament. While the Illini failed to win, Nichols still finished with 31 points on 10-of-18 shooting.

This great production got him back in the good graces with me. He is a borderline Big Ten caliber starter now, and I am comfortable with him potentially being a starter or at least getting a timeshare with the starter next season. I would say he hit my expectations I had set for him

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