Illinois Basketball: Interesting Illini starting lineup against Madrid All-Stars

Illinois basketball is in Spain playing some exhibition preseason games, and the starting five for the first matchup was a bit of a surprise.

It has been a long time since we have seen the Illini play a game. The last time we were in action was on March 16, as Arkansas would handle us fairly easily in the first round of the NCAA tournament.

This summer, Illinois players are getting a chance to go overseas to hone their skills and experience the world. They are over in Sprain right now, and their first game of the international series is against the Madrid All-Stars.

With some changes to the roster this past offseason, the projected starting lineup is currently in flux. The Illinois coaching staff decided to go with mainly the players I thought they would but there was one player who surprised me in game one.

In the game against the Madrid All-Stars, AJ Redd is getting the starting nod. Now, you have to take this with a grain of salt considering it is just an exhibition game, but it is interesting that Redd is getting a start.

Redd walked on to the Illinois team last season after being a student manager for the first semester. He would end up playing in two games for the Illini and didn’t score a point. The walk-on is joined in the starting lineup by Ty Rodgers, Luke Goode, Terrence Shannon Jr., and Coleman Hawkins, all of whom I expect to start this season.

Illinois basketball is switching up the head coach this summer as well

While the Illini are doing some fun things with the roster to start the summer, they are also changing things up when it comes to who the lead man is on the sidelines.

For each game this summer, a different Illinois assistant coach will be calling the game. The first game against the Madrid All-Stars is going to Tim Anderson.

I love this unique coaching move by the Illini. Having a different assistant coach be the head coach in each game will help get the roster used to that coach’s style of play and cadence. This will help when the season rolls around. I also think this experience is invaluable to the coaches and their future coaching prospects. This was a smart move all around.