Illinois Basketball: Projected Illini starting lineup for the 2018-2019 season

PISCATAWAY, NJ - FEBRUARY 25: Illinois Fighting Illini head coach Brad Underwood during the first half of the College Basketball Game between the Rutgers Scarlet Knights and the Illinois Fighting Illini on February 25, 2018, at the Louis Brown Athletic Center in Piscataway, NJ. (Photo by Rich Graessle/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
PISCATAWAY, NJ - FEBRUARY 25: Illinois Fighting Illini head coach Brad Underwood during the first half of the College Basketball Game between the Rutgers Scarlet Knights and the Illinois Fighting Illini on February 25, 2018, at the Louis Brown Athletic Center in Piscataway, NJ. (Photo by Rich Graessle/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) /
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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) /

The Illinois basketball team begins their season in less than two weeks and this has Illini fans buzzing.

On Friday, the Illini will be taking on Illinois Wesleyan in an exhibition game to tune up for the start of the regular season. This is a game that should help develop what Brad Underwood wants as the first starting lineup of the season.

The first game of the regular season is on November 8. This game will be against the Evansville Purple Aces. Illinois will welcome in the Purple Aces in what should be another nice tune-up game for the rough schedule to follow.

Figuring out the early lineup is going to be the tricky part for Underwood and this coaching staff. I believe they probably already have a good idea of what they want it to be, but there are a lot of new faces and some of them are freshmen. It will be interesting to see who officially gets the starting nod.

But, until then, speculation will run rampant. There are some players who I think should start over others. My lineup will need the true freshmen to step up this season.

Here is the projected Illini starting lineup to star the 2018-2019 season.