Illinois Basketball: 5 big questions for the Illini against Oakland

4. Will Amani Hansberry eat into Dain Dainja’s backup role?

Illinois has a lot of talent this season, which makes for some great position battles. It is fun to see Ty Rodgers develop as a point guard, but there are a couple of other talented guards waiting in the wings to potentially take his spot if he struggles.

Another position battle has to do with our primary No. 5 backup role. As of right now, and moving forward, Coleman Hawkins is going to start at the No. 5 spot. But Illinois has two talented big men behind Hawkins fighting it out for the primary backup job.

Dain Dainja seemed like the sure-fire backup to Hawkins to start the year. He is coming off a solid first season with the Illini, and Dainja has the experience. But, through game one, I am not so sure if Dainja has the backup job locked up.

So, a big question I have for the game against Oakland is; will Amani Hansberry eat into Dainja’s backup role?

In the Eastern Illinois game, Hansberry received 14 minutes and Dainja only received 12 minutes. But that doesn’t tell the whole story, in my opinion. I looked at when they each saw playing time.

Dainja subbed in at the 15:01 mark in the first half, which means he was one of the first players off the bench for the Illini. Hansberry had to wait until the 4:53 mark. That means Brad Underwood clearly has Dainja over Hansberry, but he still trusted the freshman enough to sub in only up two points.

The two big men both had good games too. Hansberry finished with seven points, eight rebounds, and two assists, while Dainja had eight points, six rebounds, one block, and one steal.

As of right now, it wouldn’t shock me to see these two big men continue in an even timeshare. This was Hansberry’s first game in college, so if he continues on this path, look for him to emerge as the main backup to Hawkins.