Illinois Basketball: Projected Illini lineup to start the 2021-22 season

The Illinois basketball team is going to be without Kofi Cockburn for the first three games this season.

While this is a big blow to the Illini, thankfully, the first three games aren’t too tough. I see Illinois emerging, at worst, 2-1 in this stretch of games. But with that being said, Illinois is going to need to adjust the lineup a bit without Kofi.

Here is the projected Illinois basketball lineup to start the 2021-22 season.

No. 1 Guard

Starter: Andre Curbelo

The starting point guard won’t be affected when Illinois welcomes in Jackson State on November 9. While Andre Curbelo has been extremely sloppy with the ball in his two preseason exhibition games, he will always be the main ball-handler on this team.

Some people are a little worried about the 10 turnovers Curbelo had against Indiana (PA) the other night. I wouldn’t put too much stock into that just yet. He also managed to have 14 points and 12 assists in the game. Curbelo is extremely smart, so he will know not to take that many risks throughout the season. Look for his turnover numbers to drop dramatically to start the year.

Backup: Trent Frazier

Illinois doesn’t have a true backup point guard on the roster right now, so the backup is going to have to be Trent Frazier. While Frazier isn’t going to be coming off the bench, he is going to be the secondary ball-handler on the team.

Throughout the two exhibition games, Frazier has been bringing the ball up the court when Curbelo has needed a rest. This is why I have Frazier as the backup point guard. Overall, though, Frazier is more of a scorer. This area in the lineup needs to be addressed moving into the 2022-23 campaign.