Illinois Basketball: What Trayce Jackson-Davis returning to college means for the Illini

The offseason has been a roller coaster for the Illinois basketball team.

Quite a few players have left the Illini program. It is likely that six out of our top seven scorers won’t be returning to the team, which includes big man, Kofi Cockburn. He decided to hire an agent and enter his name into the NBA Draft.

The Indiana Hoosiers had a player in Trayce Jackson-Davis do the same, except he didn’t hire an agent. On May 20, Jackson-Davis decided to pull his name out of the draft pool and come back to Indiana. This was big news for the Hoosiers, but what ramifications does it have on the Illinois basketball program?

Throughout much of Jackson-Davis’ career, he has struggled against the Illini, or at least his team has struggled. He is 1-4 against the Illinois with the lone victory coming this past March in the Big Ten Tournament. His best game was also that lone win, as he would finish the upset with 21 points, seven rebounds, and three assists.

Illinois basketball is going to have to find someone to stop Trayce Jackson-Davis.

Most people are probably going to see that Kofi has departed the Illinois program and then see Jackson-Davis is returning and think the Hoosiers’ center is going to tear the Illini up on the inside. Well, most of Jackson-Davis’ success against Illinois came when Kofi was matched up against him.

In the Big Ten Tournament game this past March, Jackson-Davis was 8-of-10 from the field when Kofi was guarding him. He was just 1-of-3 with either Omar Payne or Coleman Hawkins on the Indiana big man. Even Luke Goode got into the mix with a nice defensive stop that resulted in a jump ball.

Jackson-Davis is an extremely talented player. He put Kofi, who is likely to see some NBA time in the next couple of years, into a blender on various occasions. Now Illinois doesn’t have Kofi in the paint, but Jackson-Davis is returning. So, what should we do?

I like Hawkins as a potential fit to guard Jackson-Davis, but he needs to get his lower body stronger. There were too many times he got backed down in the paint without much resistance. I think an interesting option to guard Jackson-Davis next season could be Dain Dainja.

Dainja is a fairly quick and athletic big man who will have his place on the Illini roster. I am not completely sure he will start every game for the program, but Brad Underwood should use him in certain situations. This would be one of those situations.

Jackson-Davis returning to Indiana is not great news for Illinois. While we have been successful against Indiana with him on the floor, he has still averaged 13.8 points, 9.4 rebounds, and 1.6 blocks per game against the Illini. That was with Kofi on the floor most of the time as well. Hopefully, we can find a nice option to guard Jackson-Davis for what should be his final year in college.