Illinois basketball set to play the most important game of the season

Illinois basketball is still months away from tipping off, but we are getting a glimpse of what is to come for the program.

Last season, the Illini had some interesting preseason matchups. We went overseas and fans got to see the team play against some European competition in the summer. Illinois then came back home and weeks before the season started, we took on Kansas in a charity exhibition to help the victims of the wildfires in Hawaii.

That charity event will continue in 2024. On Friday night, Jon Rothstein of CBS Sports reported that Illinois will be a part of a charity exhibition that is hosted by the Ole Miss Rebels.

There wasn’t a date or cause that was reported, but the framework for Brad Underwood and Co. to play a game they love and to help out a group in need is in place.

The Kansas exhibition game last season showed the talent level of the Illinois basketball program

Playing another charity game this season is awesome. The money raised will go to a good cause, much like the Kansas game last year. I couldn’t find a definitive number, but in a quote from Bill Self after the game, the charity event last season raised “well north of a million dollars.”

I am excited to see where the money goes this time around. I am also excited to see Illinois play against good competition in exhibition games. It kind of shows you where the program is at early on.

In the game against Kansas, Illinois was able to take down the then-No. 1 team in the country. It was a pretty big deal. On top of that, it was Hunter Dickinson’s first game with the Jayhawks, and if you have been following Illinois for the past four years, you know the relationship between Dickinson and the Orange and Blue.

That win over Kansas was a bit of a foreshadowing of things to come. While the charity exhibition against Ole Miss is just that, an exhibition, it will be interesting to see how the newly-formed Illini look.