Illinois Basketball: Top 5 Illini players poised to have a breakout season

This has been a crazy offseason for the Illinois basketball program, and there are so many talented players on the roster heading into next season.

I know I might be in the minority on this, but I am excited to see what the Illini can do with the talent we have moving forward. Sure, we didn’t add that traditional point guard many had hoped, but there are some great players on this roster who could develop into that point guard role.

I also believe there are a few players who could take the next step and break out this upcoming campaign.

Here are top five Illinois basketball players poised to have a breakout season in 2023-24

No. 5 Coleman Hawkins

Illinois had two players who dabbled in the NBA waters this past offseason. One of those talented players was Coleman Hawkins.

At 6-foot-10, 225-pounds, Hawkins was a crucial part of the NCAA tournament-bound team in 2022-23. He would end up averaging 9.9 points, 6.2 rebounds, 3.0 assists, 1.2 blocks, and 1.1 steals per game.

The fact that Hawkins could do a little bit of everything on the basketball court made him an intriguing prospect for NBA scouts. He declared for the NBA Draft but kept his eligibility. After going through the pre-draft workouts, Hawkins would eventually pull his name out of the draft process.

What needs to improve for Coleman Hawkins to have a breakout season

There is a reason that Hawkins is back with the Illini. NBA scouts clearly told him that he was missing something in his game and needed to improve it to have a good chance of being drafted.

Hawkins is coming back for one final year at Illinois, and I would bet he has worked on his game harder than ever this offseason. The NBA Draft is on his mind, so this extra motivation is going to enable Hawkins to improve his game. This will open the door for a potential breakout year and one that is going to be pretty special for the Illini.

• 3-Point Shooting

I am just speculating, but I believe some of the areas that need to improve would be Hawkins’ three-point shooting and decision-making. Hawkins shot 28% from three-point range last season. He clearly wants to be a stretch No. 4, but you can’t do that if you aren’t a threat to make three-point shots.

• Decision-Making

The decision-making is a big factor too. There would be times of brilliance with Hawkins, but then you would have times where he makes some really bad decisions on the court. I would guess that needs to improve as well. If he can lock down both of these areas, then this could be a breakout season for Hawkins.