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Illinois Basketball: 3 big remaining questions for the Illini

By Rees Woodcock

COLLEGE PARK, MD - DECEMBER 07: Head coach Brad Underwood of the Illinois Fighting Illini reacts during the first half of the game against the Maryland Terrapins at Xfinity Center on December 7, 2019 in College Park, Maryland. (Photo by Scott Taetsch/Getty Images)
COLLEGE PARK, MD - DECEMBER 07: Head coach Brad Underwood of the Illinois Fighting Illini reacts during the first half of the game against the Maryland Terrapins at Xfinity Center on December 7, 2019 in College Park, Maryland. (Photo by Scott Taetsch/Getty Images) /
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EVANSTON, ILLINOIS – FEBRUARY 27: Head coach Brad Underwood of the Illinois Fighting Illini reacts in the second half against the Northwestern Wildcats at Welsh-Ryan Arena on February 27, 2020 in Evanston, Illinois. (Photo by Quinn Harris/Getty Images) /

The Illinois basketball program is coming off their best season in about a half-decade or so.

We would have been dancing if it wasn’t for Covid-19. Illinois made a run in the Big Ten and secured a double-bye. Everything was golden. We were going to hear our name called on Selection Sunday. I wanted to see an analysis from a talking head that didn’t quite make sense because they clearly hadn’t watched Illinois basketball. I wanted that!

That didn’t happen, though. Illinois was left out to dry, along with every other sports team, once the pandemic hit. No Big Ten Tournament, no Selection Sunday and no NCAA tournament. Everything had changed.

But there will, hopefully, be a 2020-21 campaign. This is the year Illinois gets back to the NCAA tournament for the second year in a row. The offseason has been interesting for the Illini, though. This hasn’t been a normal offseason because we had talented players the year before. Some of these talented players wanted to take their talents to the NBA and others wanted a fresh start. There were also some regular graduation departures.

So many things have affected the Orange and Blue. All of these changes have left some questions for Illini fans.

Here are three big questions that remain for the Illini.

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