Illinois Basketball: 5 surprises to start the 2023-24 Illini season

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CHAMPAIGN, ILLINOIS – NOVEMBER 17: Justin Harmon #4 of the Illinois Fighting Illini takes a shot during the first half in the game against the Valparaiso Crusaders at State Farm Center on November 17, 2023 in Champaign, Illinois. (Photo by Justin Casterline/Getty Images) /

4. I was expecting more from Justin Harmon

Illinois had a big offseason of freshmen and transfers joining the program. Brad Underwood did a great job of blending both sets of newcomers into the already talented lineup that was in Champaign.

One of the big-time transfer snags by Underwood was Justin Harmon. The Utah Valley guard was coming off a big season and wanted to take his game to the next level. With Utah Valley, he averaged 14.0 points, 3.8 rebounds, 2.9 assists, and 1.3 steals per game last season. He also hit 34.0% of his three-pointers.

I wasn’t expecting Harmon to hit anywhere near those numbers with Illinois. He was entering an Illini program that had talented players, and he wasn’t going to be the big man on campus anymore. But I thought Harmon would play some solid basketball off the bench.

That hasn’t been the case, though. Harmon hasn’t played well in the first five games of the season. He is only averaging 4.0 points, 3.6 rebounds, and 1.0 assists per game in 14.2 minutes of action each night. Harmon’s shooting numbers are off too, only hitting 38.1% of his shots, 50% of his free throws, and 28.6% of his three-point attempts.

I was fully expecting Harmon to be a bigger contributor. Shoot, I believed he could potentially push for a starting job. But Harmon has been very far from starting for the Illini. He isn’t putting up the numbers that I was expecting, and he is currently averaging the ninth-most minutes on the team. All of this is a bit of a surprise.

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