No. 4 Guard/Forward
Starter: Giorgi Bezhanishvili (Senior – 3* – #373 overall)
The No. 4 and No. 5 spots are a little stickier when it comes to the Illinois dream team lineup in 2021-22. With the current roster for that season, I would have Giorgi Bezhanishvili starting at the No. 5 spot. But this is the dream team lineup, so I have Giorgi moving over to the No. 4 spot as the starter.
Giorgi’s career at Illinois has been interesting. He is a fan favorite to many despite his down numbers this past season. But, as a senior in 2021-22, I expect Giorgi to come out and start for the Illini. He isn’t a bad player, as he put up 6.8 points and 4.8 rebounds per game last season. I see him getting the bulk of the minutes at the No. 4 spot. This would be best for the team.
Backup: David Jones (Freshman – 4* – #94 overall)
Another one of the incoming freshmen from the class of 2021 will hopefully be David Jones. He is someone I want Illinois to land because I think he could come in and be a primary backup at the No. 4 spot.
Jones is a 6-foot-6, 195-pound wing who is rated as a four-star recruit and ranked as the No. 94 player in the class of 2021. I think he is probably better suited for the No. 3 spot, but Brad Underwood likes to go small at times, so having him as Giorgi’s backup will enable the talented wing to get playing time. I believe Illinois will land Jones because 247Sports’ Derek Piper has placed a Crystal Ball on him coming to the Illini. This would be a huge pickup.
Backup: Benjamin Bosmans-Verdonk (Sophomore – NR – NR)
I keep hearing people say that Benjamin Bosmans-Verdonk is going to be a really good player. Despite those rumblings, I have him as the second backup at the No. 4 spot.
I have no doubt there will be minutes for Bosmans-Verdonk in 2021-22 as a sophomore, but I am not sure how good he will end up being. If he was going to a huge impact player, then I am shocked he didn’t see more time this past season. I believe he will be a solid player but won’t see a lot of time early on.