Illinois Basketball: 4 observations from the Illini win over Jackson State

2. Depth shined bright

One of the main things that frustrated me about teams in the past is the lack of depth.

If our point guard went down with an injury, we didn’t have a quality backup. Shoot, with some of the teams in the past, Illinois was starting players who couldn’t even be a primary backup on the teams today.

Brad Underwood and his previous and current coaching staff have put together a great roster. This is the deepest team I have ever seen assembled in Champaign.

Just sit back and think what the Illini were missing in the Jackson State game. A first-team All-American center was riding the pine. A potential first-team All-American point guard was out. A super-senior shooting guard who brings veteran leadership and could be college basketball’s defensive player of the year was out. I haven’t even mentioned the fact Illinois was missing a 6-foot-8 kid who can hit shots from anywhere on the court at a high clip.

Literally, three starters and one potential starter were missing from the team last night. Instead of getting upset by Jackson State and then making an excuse, the backups for the Illini stepped up and dominated.

With pretty much all backups except for Da’Monte Williams and Jacob Grandison, Illinois beat another college basketball team by 24 points. The Illini were missing four key players, and we can still legitimately go nine deep on the roster without missing a beat.

I have never seen a team like the Illini squad I am watching this season. We might have something special on our hands.