I'm 66 and ever since I was 10 people spoke about Illinois as a "sleeping giant" in college basketball. Actually in football as well, but that stopped about 25 years ago for good.
Anyway, I see now that Jacob Grandison has taken his name out of the draft and presumably (?) will be returning to Illinois.
They'll have a very nice roster next year:
Vets:
Luke Goode 6'6"
Jacob Grandison 6'7"
Courtney Hawkins 6'10"
RJ Melendez 6'7"
Transfers:
Matt Mayer 6'9"
Terrance Shannon 6'6"
Dain Dainja 6'10"
Freshman:
Skyy Clark 6'2"
Ty Rogers 6'6"
Jayden Epps 6'2"
Sencire Harris 6'7"
Interesting to compare to IU's:
Vets:
TJD 6'9"
Race Thompson 6'8"
Xavier Johnson 6'3"
Trey Galloway 6'4"
Anthony Leal 6'5"
Jordan Geronimo 6'6"
Tamar Bates 6'4"
Miller Kopp 6'7"
Logan Duncomb 6'9"
Freshman:
Jalen Hood-Schifino 6'5"
Malik Reneau 6'8"
Kaleb Banks 6'8"
CJ Gunn 6'5"
Although both rosters are talented, IU has an edge in AA TJD at center and the very talented X at PG. Additionally, JHS is an exceptional freshman in terms of maturity/leadership and sheer size/strength.
With 7 new faces Illinois may struggle early in the year and be on the upswing late. Hopefully, by the time the tourney comes around IU will have a 1-3 seed. Illinois might have a 4-6 seed,
Hard to tell yet where both teams finish in the BT. To me, it looks like both will finish between 1st & 4th, with Purdue & Michigan being the other two. Purdue badly needs a transfer PG. Michigan's roster has not yet been finalized, so picking 1-4 now is premature.