Illinois Basketball: 5 observations from the Illini win over the Nebraska Cornhuskers

3. The RJ Melendez struggles continue

There have been a lot of talented players come through the Illinois basketball program over the years. I believe one of the talented players that joined the team was RJ Melendez.

Melendez impressed me during his freshman season. He only got 8.5 minutes in each game, but you could see his development play out. He was also big in the NCAA tournament, as he seemed to be one of the few players playing well against Houston.

I had high expectations for Melendez this season, though. Looking at what he did at the end of his freshman campaign, his sophomore year should have been special. It is not.

Melendez continues to ride the struggle bus. There are times when I think he is breaking out of his slump, like when he goes 4-of-8 from the field for 10 points against Indiana. But then he rattles off three stinkers in a row.

On Tuesday night, Melendez would go 1-of-5 from the field and 0-of-3 from three-point range for two points. He would also add one rebound and one foul in his 15 minutes of action.

Melendez has now shot 3-of-17 from the field and 0-of-10 from three-point range in his last three games. At some point, I am going to stop thinking this is a slump and start thinking that this is Melendez. I don’t want to believe that, though. I know this kid is a good player.