There is no doubt we are in the middle of another golden era of Illinois basketball.
With Brad Underwood at the helm, the Illini are recruiting just as good if not better than any time in the past 30 years. The class of 2022 helped cement that fact.
Inside the Illinois class of 2022 were four four-star recruits. Sencire Harris was ranked the lowest, and he is a tremendous basketball player who is coming off back-to-back Ohio state championships. That is how good this class is going to be for the Illini.
Another member of this class, Ty Rodgers, was arguably the biggest get for the Orange and Blue. While he isn’t ranked the highest out of the four commitments, Rodgers could end up having the shortest stint in Champaign. It wouldn’t shock anyone to see him be a one-and-done.
Rodgers is already on the radar of some national pundits as well. On Friday, Jon Rothstein of CBS Sports released his 20 under-the-radar freshmen for the 2022-23 season. There are some pretty big names on this list from some pretty big programs.
Right smack dab in the middle of the list is Rodgers. Rothstein continues on why he has Rodgers as one of the top freshmen for next season.
"Well embedded moles in Champaign believe that Rodgers will be an indispensable piece for the Illini as a freshman. A positionless talent at 6-6, Rodgers should fit seamlessly into Brad Underwood’s plans of utilizing interchangeable pieces at all five spots on the floor during the 2022-23 season."
20 under-the-radar freshmen for the 2022-23 college basketball season.https://t.co/NqIX0uq5z3
— Jon Rothstein (@JonRothstein) September 30, 2022
Ty Rodgers is an important depth piece for the Illinois basketball team in 2022-23.
Illinois’ starting lineup is pretty close to being set for the upcoming season. Incoming transfers like Terrence Shannon Jr. and Matthew Mayer will be slotted in as starters. I think incoming freshman Skyy Clark will start at point guard as well.
But, with Underwood’s style, there are going to be plenty of minutes to go around. He likes to use a wide range of players, and the fact Rodgers is coming in and could start right away for a number of teams in the college game has to get Underwood drooling.
I don’t think Rodgers will start as a freshman more than a maximum of a couple of games, but I do think he gets 13-17 minutes per contest. He is going to be looked at as an important piece to this team from day one.
When Underwood has a key freshman, he plays that key freshman. Ayo Dosunmu and Kofi Cockburn are both examples of that fact. I think Rodgers is cut from the same cloth. I can’t wait to see what this kid does on the court.