Illinois Basketball: Grading the projected Illini lineup for 2020-21

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CHAMPAIGN, IL – JANUARY 05: Illinois guard Trent Frazier (1) being introduced prior to a college basketball game between the Purdue Boilermakers and Illinois Fighting Illini on January 5, 2020 at the State Farm Center in Champaign, Ill (Photo by James Black/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) /

No. 2 Guard – A-

Trent Frazier (SR)
Jacob Grandison (JR)

I really like what Illinois will be putting out on the court when it comes to the projected No. 2 spot. It is nice to have experience at this position because some of the best players on the team will be freshmen.

I see Trent Frazier leading the No. 2 guard spot. He is entering his senior campaign and should be one of the best players on the team again this year. Frazier didn’t have a great junior season only averaging 9.1 points, 2.2 rebounds and 1.9 assists per game, but I attribute the production decrease to the fact the team improved talent-wise.

Illinois brought in Jacob Grandison as a transfer last season as well. He had to sit out a year but is able to play starting this season. He is coming in from Holy Cross where he averaged 13.9 points, 5 rebounds and 2.9 assists per game. The abilities of Grandison should show through when he gets on the court. I see somewhere between 5-12 minutes per game for him this year.

Overall, I ended up giving the No. 2 guard spot a grade of an A-. This is a solid grade but could have been higher for Frazier’s numbers last year were a little better. I have some concerns about his long-range shooting, as he only hit 30.9-percent of his three-pointers in 2019-20. But the experience of this position should give Illinois a leg up on the competition. I love the projected one-two punch of Frazier and Grandison.

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