Illinois basketball getting no love in Big Ten preseason awards

It was a wild offseason for the Illinois basketball program, as we went through a massive change.

The Illini had all but two scholarship players depart the program from a team that went to the Elite 8. Not only did that mean the team would look different for the 2024-25 campaign, but it also meant that Brad Underwood and the Illinois coaching staff needed to get to work finding replacements.

Illinois’ transformation was nothing short of incredible. A five-star recruit, one of the best groups of freshmen, and a stellar transfer portal class were brought in to not only patch the holes but to help guide Illinois to heights we haven’t seen in decades.

Despite the success of the offseason for the Orange and Blue, we didn't get any love from the Big Ten. On Thursday during Big Ten media days, the 2024-25 preseason All-Big Ten Team was released.

There were some familiar faces on the list with Purdue’s Braden Smith leading the way. He also secured the Big Ten Preseason Play of the Year honor and was a unanimous selection for the All-Big Ten team.

One noticeable issue with the list was that not a single Illinois basketball player made the preseason All-Big Ten Team. But do we deserve one heading into the 2024-25 season?

Illinois basketball had some great options to make the preseason All-Big Ten Team

If Illinois lost all of the talent this offseason and didn’t replace them with, arguably, even better talent, then I would totally understand not having a player on the preseason All-Big Ten Team. But that wasn’t the case at all.

The haul Underwood brought in had multiple names that could have made the preseason honor. As of right now, Illinois has two projected first-round NBA Draft picks. Incoming five-star Will Riley and incoming four-star Kasparas Jakucionis are looked at as some of the best college players without even stepping foot on the college court yet. Both players are looked at as the top NBA talent, but they were both left off the preseason All-Big Ten Team.

I would also like to put Kylan Boswell’s name into the mix. He is a junior coming from an Arizona program that had a lot of success with him leading the way in the backcourt. Boswell is coming off a season where he averaged 9.6 points, 3.6 assists, and 2.3 rebounds per game. He has the potential to be one of the best players in the Big Ten.

Overall, I am not irate that Illinois didn’t get a player on the preseason All-Big Ten Team. It is just a preseason list that doesn’t matter. But we did have a few players who could have easily cracked this list. Illinois has talent on the roster, and I think people are sleeping on that talent.