Illinois Basketball: Star guard for the Illini enters 2023 NBA Draft

Illinois basketball has a key piece, potentially, departing for the NBA Draft.

The Illini have gone through one crazy offseason thus far. We have lost a few players to the transfer portal, including a couple of key guys who were going to be big minutes contributors in 2023-24.

On top of the departures, Illinois has had a couple of big incoming transfer portal pledges who will help this program from day one. These incoming players should help fill some of the voids left by the outgoing players.

And then you have the NBA Draft that is coming up months from now. Coleman Hawkins declared for the draft back at the end of March. He remains eligible to return to the college game, though. Many Illinois fans hope he pulls his name out and returns for one more run in Champaign.

On Wednesday afternoon, Terrence Shannon Jr. joined Hawkins in declaring for the 2023 NBA Draft. He posted on social media that he was entering his name into the draft, but the star guard had no mention of keeping his eligibility.

Terrence Shannon Jr. staying in the NBA Draft would be a big hit to the Illinois basketball roster

Shannon declaring for the NBA Draft doesn’t come as a surprise. He was listed on almost every mock draft I read for the 2022-23 season.

With the way his social media post reads, it doesn’t feel like Shannon intends to pull his name out of the NBA Draft. This would make the most sense for him, as Shannon is looking like an early second-round pick. This projection could improve during the pre-draft workouts and combines.

Shannon declaring for the NBA Draft does put Illinois in a tougher situation with the roster, though. I just did a projected Illinois lineup, and I had Shannon starting at the No. 1 guard spot. He would bring the ball up the court, much like he did toward the end of last season.

Now that Shannon is likely gone, Brad Underwood is going to have to find someone who could be that guy in the backcourt. Are we really going to rely on a freshman who hasn’t played a second of college basketball and wasn’t recruited hard by major programs in Niccolo Moretti? I don’t think that would be wise.

If I am counting correctly, Illinois has three scholarships open after the departure of Shannon. That includes Hawkins coming back for one more season. If he stays in the draft, which I think he will, then Illinois will still have four scholarships open for 2023-24.

Underwood has plenty of clay to mold this Illinois team into a Big Ten and national contender. Let’s see what he can build.