No. 1 Guard
Starter – Trent Frazier
This entire projected lineup is predicated on who stays with the program and who wants to depart for the NBA. Trent Frazier has two years left in the college ranks if he chooses to stay around that long. If he does stick with the Illini, he would be the starting No. 1 guard when the 2020-2021 campaign rolls around.
Frazier finished his sophomore season putting up solid numbers. He improved on the year before averaging 13.7 points, 2.6 assists, 2.3 rebounds and 1.4 steals per game. He did all of this while shooting 41.1-percent from the field and 40.6-percent from three-point range. While it didn’t seem like Frazier had a good season because of chemistry issues, he actually played pretty well.
Backup – Recruiting Need
There is a big recruiting need for the Illini at the No. 1 guard spot. Frazier isn’t a true No. 1 guard but I have him playing there because of the deficiencies in depth. But Illinois also needs to bring in a solid No. 1 guard from the class of 2020.
One option for this spot would be Marcus Watson. He is a solid point guard from Morgan Park High School. He is ranked as the No. 336 player in the class of 2020, so this would be a good option as a backup to Frazier for year one. That would enable Watson to get the flow of the game down better.