Illinois Basketball: The good, the bad, and the expectations for Trent Frazier

Coming into the 2021-22 campaign, the Illinois basketball program has a ton of talent.

Some of the talent returning to the Illini includes super-senior, Trent Frazier. A main staple in the program the past five years, Frazier is back for one final run at a national title.

The growth of Frazier and his game have been fun to watch. Last season was refreshing as the Wellington, Florida native improved in almost every metric. Can he continue to improve and be one of the best players in college basketball?

Here is the good, the bad, and the expectations for Illinois basketball star, Trent Fraizer.

Good

There is so much good that Trent Frazier brings to the basketball court. Let’s first start off with his infectious personality.

Night in and night out, Frazier brings high energy to the court. He is upbeat regardless of the circumstances, and this rubs off on his teammates. I will be looking for that out of him for one final season.

The best attribute Frazier brings to the table is his defensive prowess. He is one of the best defenders I have seen in program history. Just last season, Frazier was able to average 1.3 steals per game, which led the Illini. For his career, he is averaging 1.3 steals per game as well.

I love what Frazier does on the offensive end of the court as well. He bumped up his numbers last season to 36.2% from three-point range and 46.2% from two-point range. Both were massive increases from the year prior. Frazier also does a little bit of everything.

Most importantly, Frazier is the most selfless player on the team. I will never forget what he has done for this program. As a freshman, Frazier was the man on the team and had the ball a lot. Ayo Dosunmu then joined the program, and Frazier had to adjust his game. He also had to put his ego in check for the betterment of the team. This would result in back-to-back NCAA tournament berths and a Big Ten Tournament title.