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Illinois Basketball: 5 assistant coach options for the Illini

By Rees Woodcock

EAST LANSING, MICHIGAN - FEBRUARY 23: Head coach Brad Underwood of the Illinois Fighting Illini reacts in the second half of the game against the Michigan State Spartans at Breslin Center on February 23, 2021 in East Lansing, Michigan. (Photo by Rey Del Rio/Getty Images)
EAST LANSING, MICHIGAN - FEBRUARY 23: Head coach Brad Underwood of the Illinois Fighting Illini reacts in the second half of the game against the Michigan State Spartans at Breslin Center on February 23, 2021 in East Lansing, Michigan. (Photo by Rey Del Rio/Getty Images) /
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ATLANTA, GA – MARCH 22: Cartier Diarra #2 and assistant coach Chris Lowery of the Kansas State Wildcats celebrate their teams win over the Kentucky Wildcats during the 2018 NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament South Regional at Philips Arena on March 22, 2018 in Atlanta, Georgia. The Kansas State Wildcats defeated the Kentucky Wildcats 61-58. (Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images) /

Illinois basketball has officially lost two of their top assistant coaches from this past season.

It was announced on Monday that not only is Orlando Antigua heading to Kentucky, but Chin Coleman is also departing for the Wildcats. Coaching-wise, this is a big blow to the Illini because they were two good recruiters who could bring in the talent.

On paper, though, I love the talent we have on the roster, and Illinois should be just fine the next couple of years. But we still need to replace those two assistant coaches. There are some options out there.

Here are five assistant coach options for the Illinois basketball team.

1. Chris Lowery – Assistant Coach, Kansas State

Illinois has to work quickly to fill their assistant coach positions, and one option that piques my interest is Chris Lowery. Lowery is the current associate head coach with the Kansas State Wildcats, under former Illini head coach, Bruce Weber. With his previous coaching and recruiting experience, I believe he is someone Brad Underwood should look at.

  • Experience

There is plenty of DI coaching experience with Lowery. He was an assistant under Weber with Southern Illinois before spending one season with the Illini in 2003-04. Lowery would then head back to Southern Illinois to take over as head coach in 2004-05.

Lowery was a head coach for eight seasons before heading back to Weber when he took over at Kansas State. Lowery has been with the Wildcats ever since. So, he has been coaching at the DI level for over 20 years. That is experience I want to see.

  • Recruiting

The recruiting game hasn’t been the greatest with Lowery. He is credited with getting some talent, but there isn’t anyone who jumps off the page. The main thing I like about his recruiting is where he can pull players from. He snags his talent from the Midwest, mainly Missouri, Indiana and Illinois. Having someone who can in-state recruit is enticing.

  • Availability

There might be an opportunity for Illinois to come in and pull Lowery away from Kansas State. The Wildcats have had two sub-.400 campaigns, so there is some turmoil going on with the coaching staff. There are also rumors of Weber retiring. This might be a good time for Underwood to swoop in and pluck a solid coach away from Kansas State.

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