Illinois Basketball: 5 observations from the Illini win over Quincy

5. The second unit showed me a lot

Coming into the exhibition game against Quincy, I had the starters nailed down. Skyy Clark, Terrence Shannon Jr., RJ Melendez, Matthew Mayer, and Coleman Hawkins were the ones who hit the court first.

Honestly, they didn’t wow me by any means as a unit. There were some great moments from individual players in this unit, but they didn’t blow me away. I was really impressed with what I saw from the second unit, though.

The first player off the bench was Ty Rodgers, which wasn’t a surprise. With Luke Goode on the mend, Rodgers immediately stepped into that sixth-man spot. After Rodgers, the main second unit consisted of Jayden Epps, Sencire Harris, and Dain Dainja.

I am excited about what Rodgers’ future holds. He is a really talented player who is going to be a first-round NBA Draft pick down the road. He put up an effortless seven points, nine rebounds, two assists, and two steals while shooting 2-of-3 from the field. He also had a play in the lane where he drove, did a spin move, and had an easy layup.

Harris and Epps were also exciting for the Illini. I talked about Harris’ game in an earlier slide. He has the lockdown defensive ability that I love. Epps ended up playing 22 minutes, which was the most of any bench player. You can tell he is wanting to put up a big number in the points department. He would finish with seven points, two rebounds, and one assist but only shot 3-of-9 from the field.

In an earlier slide, I also mentioned Dainja. He is definitely a work-in-progress, but the framework is there for a good player. It will be fun to see what Brad Underwood can do with him on the court.

Overall, the second unit is super young but they are good. I would argue they could take on the first unit and give them a legit game. I am excited by the fact Illinois can go nine deep this season.