4. Adam Miller
Illinois freshman Adam Miller started the season with a bang, hitting 10 shots against North Carolina A&T and dropping 28 points. That introduction to Miller gave Illini fans lofty expectations for the talented recruit.
Miller came crashing down weeks later and his numbers plateaued. He wasn’t putting up 28 points per game like in the first contest. In fact, he was struggling for parts of his first season in Champaign. People were critical of Miller and what he was bringing to the Illini.
But that didn’t get the freshman down. Miller continued to improve on the court, mostly on the defensive end. He would start to develop his game more and more as the season went on. During the Big Ten Tournament and NCAA tournament, he ended up being an extremely important piece to the puzzle.
Miller averaged 8.3 points and 2.8 rebounds for the season. In his first two NCAA tournament games, Miller dropped 10 points in each contest and shot 3-of-6 from three-point range. The Peoria native stepped his game up to another level, and it doesn’t go unnoticed.
The development of Miller was evident throughout the season. You can see the flashes of greatness out of the kid and the willingness to bang around while driving in the paint. This kid is going to be special, and he will have the green light next season when some of the big names for the Illini move on. The future is so bright with the one-two punch of Miller and Andre Curbelo.