No. 4 Forward
Starter – Giorgi Bezhanishvili
The talent of the starting five for the Illini during the 2020-21 season could be special. The No. 4 spot would go to Giorgi Bezhanishvili. He showed Illini Nation that his recruiting ranking wasn’t correct during his freshman season. This kid was great in year one and I expect that to continue into the future.
As a true freshman, Giorgi was asked to do a lot and play out of position. This kid is more of a No. 4 but was tasked with defending the No. 5 for most teams. He still managed to average 12.5 points and 5.2 rebounds per game. Those are great numbers for only being in the college game one year. I can’t imagine his production this upcoming season and for the 2020-21 campaign.
Backup – Benjamin Bosmans-Verdonk
Illinois had a very interesting addition to their program from the class of 2019. Benjamin Bosmans-Verdonk committed to play for the Illini and is going to be a solid part of this lineup moving forward.
Bosmans-Verdonk wasn’t rated or ranked by the recruiting sites, but he is someone the Illini have been after. Coach Chin Coleman was able to seal the deal with this young 6-foot-8 power forward from Belgium. He should be a solid backup to Giorgi in 2020-21.