Illinois Basketball: Illini returning at least 82% of production across the board

Coming off one of the best seasons in program history, the women’s Illinois basketball team is going to be running it back.

I would argue that the Illini were at the lowest point in program history during the 2021-22 season. The team finished 7-20 overall and 1-13 in the Big Ten. This bad of a record had become the norm in Champaign.

In steps Shauna Green and everything changed. She brought in a few big pieces and developed the talent already on the roster. In year one under Green, Illinois would go 21-8 overall and 11-7 in the regular season. We won a Big Ten Tournament game and made the NCAA tournament for the first time in recent memory.

Usually, when a team goes from worst to one of the best teams in the Big Ten, there are a ton of seniors who catch fire and lead the program. That wasn’t the case with the Illini. In fact, Illinois is running it back with most of the talent we had from the 2022-23 campaign.

Illinois basketball is poised to have another great year with so much talent returning

Illinois had some tremendous play from some great players last season. Makira Cook led the Illini with 18.3 points and 4.2 assists per game, Kendall Bostic led the team with 9.8 rebounds and 1.6 blocks per game, and Adalia McKenzie led Illinois with 1.4 steals per game.

All of that talent returns for the 2023-24 season.

Cook, Bostic, and McKenzie are all back for the Illini, but they aren’t the only talented players suiting up for the Orange and Blue.

All but three players are back from the roster that won 22 games last season. Illinois returns at least 93% of our points, assists, steals, and blocks. The statistical category that has the lowest percentage returning is the rebounding department, and Illinois still has 82% of the rebounds coming back from 2022-23.

Let’s not forget about the players Green added in the offseason. Gretchen Dolan is coming off a senior season in high school where she averaged 39.4 points, 9.6 rebounds, 4.6 assists, 3.4 steals, and 1.6 blocks per game. She also shot 35% from three-point range. Illinois also landed Cori Allen from the class of 2023. She is a four-star guard who is coming in and will likely play decent minutes in year one.

Green also added some help in the frontcourt to make up for the rebounding production that was lost in the offseason. Illinois was able to add transfers Shay Bolin and Camille Hobby from the ACC. They will help Bostic in the paint.

Illinois is poised to have another tremendous year on the basketball court. We return nearly everyone from a 22-win team. Buckle up college basketball fans, there could be a special season on the horizon.