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2016–17 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team

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2016–17 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball
NIT, Quarterfinals
ConferenceBig Ten Conference
Record20–15 (8–10 Big Ten)
Head coach
Assistant coaches
MVPMalcolm Hill
Captains
  • Tracy Abrams
  • Malcolm Hill
Home arenaState Farm Center
Seasons
2016–17 Big Ten Conference men's basketball standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT
No. 15 Purdue 14 4   .778 27 8   .771
No. 25 Wisconsin 12 6   .667 27 10   .730
Maryland 12 6   .667 24 9   .727
Minnesota 11 7   .611 24 10   .706
No. 23 Michigan 10 8   .556 26 12   .684
Northwestern 10 8   .556 24 12   .667
Michigan State 10 8   .556 20 15   .571
Iowa 10 8   .556 19 15   .559
Illinois 8 10   .444 20 15   .571
Ohio State 7 11   .389 17 15   .531
Indiana 7 11   .389 18 16   .529
Penn State 6 12   .333 15 18   .455
Nebraska 6 12   .333 12 19   .387
Rutgers 3 15   .167 15 18   .455
2017 Big Ten tournament winner
Rankings from AP poll


The 2016–17 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team represented the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign in the 2016–17 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. Led by fifth-year head coach John Groce, the Illini played their home games at State Farm Center as members of the Big Ten Conference. They finished the season 20–15, 8–10 in Big Ten play to finish in ninth place. They lost in the second round of the Big Ten tournament to Michigan. They received an invitation to the National Invitation Tournament where they defeated Valparaiso and Boise State before losing in the Quarterfinals to UCF.

On March 11, 2017, Illinois fired head coach John Groce.[1][2] Shortly thereafter, the school announced that Assistant coach Jamall Walker would coach the team in the NIT.[3] On March 18, the school hired Brad Underwood as the new head coach.[4]

Previous season

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The Fighting Illini finished the 2015–16 season with a record of 15–19, 5–13 in Big Ten play to finish in 12th place in conference. The Illini defeated Minnesota and Iowa to advance to the quarterfinals of the Big Ten tournament where they lost to Purdue.

Offseason

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Departures

[edit]
Name Number Pos. Height Weight Year Hometown Notes
Khalid Lewis 3 G 6'3" 185 RS Senior Trenton, NJ Graduated
Mike LaTulip 10 G 6'1" 170 Senior Arlington Heights, IL Graduated and transferred to Wright State
Kendrick Nunn 25 G 6'3" 190 Junior Chicago, IL Dismissed due to domestic battery guilty plea, transferred to Oakland[5]

Incoming transfers

[edit]
US college sports recruiting information for high school athletes
Name Hometown High school / college Height Weight Commit date
Drew Cayce[6]
PG
Libertyville, IL La Lumiere (IN) / Creighton 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 165 lb (75 kg) Jul 21, 2016 
Recruiting star ratings: RivalsN/A   247SportsN/A
Overall recruiting rankings:
  • Note: In many cases, Scout, Rivals, 247Sports, and ESPN may conflict in their listings of height and weight.
  • In these cases, the average was taken. ESPN grades are on a 100-point scale.

Sources:

2016 recruiting class

[edit]

On September 16, 2015, Te'Jon Lucas of Milwaukee, Wisconsin verbally committed to attend Illinois in the fall of 2016 and signed his National Letter of Intent to finalize his recruitment on November 11, 2015. Lucas attended the NBA Top 100 camp in June 2015, had scholarship offers from California, Memphis, Purdue, and Wisconsin, and he strongly considered both USC and Old Dominion before committing to Illinois.[7][8] Lucas is only the third player from the State of Wisconsin to commit to Illinois, and is the first since 1926.[9]

US college sports recruiting information for high school athletes
Name Hometown High school / college Height Weight Commit date
Te'Jon Lucas
PG
Milwaukee, WI Washington (WI) 5 ft 11 in (1.80 m) 165 lb (75 kg) Sep 16, 2015 
Recruiting star ratings: Scout:4/5 stars   Rivals:3/5 stars   247Sports:3/5 stars    ESPN:3/5 stars
Overall recruiting rankings:   247Sports: 109
  • Note: In many cases, Scout, Rivals, 247Sports, and ESPN may conflict in their listings of height and weight.
  • In these cases, the average was taken. ESPN grades are on a 100-point scale.

Sources:

  • "Illinois 2016 Basketball Commitments". Rivals.com. Retrieved September 18, 2015.
  • "2016 Illinois Basketball Commits". Scout.com. Retrieved September 18, 2015.
  • "ESPN Recruiting Nation Basketball". ESPN.com. Retrieved September 18, 2015.
  • "Scout.com Team Recruiting Rankings". Scout.com. Retrieved September 18, 2015.
  • "2016 Team Ranking". Rivals.com. Retrieved September 18, 2015.
  • "Illinois 2016 Basketball Commits". 247sports.com. Retrieved September 18, 2015.

Roster

[edit]
2016–17 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team
Players Coaches
Pos. # Name Height Weight Year Previous school Hometown
G 0 D. J. Williams 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 210 lb (95 kg) So Simeon Academy Chicago, Illinois
G 1 Jaylon Tate 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 170 lb (77 kg) Sr Simeon Academy Chicago, Illinois
F 2 Kipper Nichols 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 225 lb (102 kg) Fr St. Edward High School (OH) Cleveland, Ohio
G 3 Te'Jon Lucas 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) 170 lb (77 kg) Fr Washington High School (WI) Milwaukee, Wisconsin
G 5 Jalen Coleman-Lands 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 190 lb (86 kg) So La Lumiere School Indianapolis, Indiana
G 10 Drew Cayce (W) Current redshirt 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 165 lb (75 kg) So La Lumiere School Libertyville, Illinois
F 12 Leron Black 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 220 lb (100 kg) RS So White Station High School Memphis, Tennessee
G 13 Tracy Abrams (C) 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 185 lb (84 kg) GS Mount Carmel High School Chicago, Illinois
G 21 Malcolm Hill (C) 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 225 lb (102 kg) Sr Belleville High School-East Fairview Heights, Illinois
C 22 Maverick Morgan 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) 245 lb (111 kg) Sr Springboro High School Springboro, Ohio
G 23 Aaron Jordan 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 190 lb (86 kg) So Plainfield East High School Plainfield, Illinois
C 33 Mike Thorne Jr. 6 ft 11 in (2.11 m) 280 lb (127 kg) GS Trinity Christian/UNC-Charlotte Fayetteville, North Carolina
G 35 Samson Oladimeji (W) 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 195 lb (88 kg) Fr William Fremd High School Rolling Meadows, Illinois
G 41 Clayton Jones (W) 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) 170 lb (77 kg) Jr Champaign Central High School Champaign, Illinois
F 43 Michael Finke 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) 230 lb (104 kg) RS So Centennial High School (IL) Champaign, Illinois
G 44 Alex Austin (W) 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 190 lb (86 kg) RS Sr Mount Carmel High School/Eastern Illinois Chicago, Illinois
F 45 Cameron Liss (W) Current redshirt 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 220 lb (100 kg) Jr Glenbrook North High School Northbrook, Illinois
Head coach
Assistant coach(es)

Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • (S) Suspended
  • (I) Ineligible
  • (W) Walk-on

Roster

Schedule and results

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Source:[10]

Date
time, TV
Rank# Opponent# Result Record High points High rebounds High assists Site (attendance)
city, state
Exhibition
Oct 30, 2016*
2:00 pm, BTN+
WashU W 82–75 
 20  Morgan   6  Hill   5  Tate  State Farm Center (10,359)
Champaign, IL
Nov 4, 2016*
7:00 pm, BTN+
Lewis W 95–51 
 16  Coleman-Lands   9  Finke   4  Tate  State Farm Center (12,753)
Champaign, IL
Non-conference regular season
Nov 11, 2016*
8:00 pm, BTN
Southeast Missouri State W 81–62  1–0
 21  Hill   8  Hill   6  Tate  State Farm Center (10,790)
Champaign, IL
Nov 13, 2016*
5:00 pm, BTN+
Northern Kentucky W 79–64  2–0
 40  Hill   12  Hill   3  Tied  State Farm Center (10,888)
Champaign, IL
Nov 15, 2016*
7:00 pm, BTN
McKendree W 112–65  3–0
 18  Tied   10  Thorne, Jr.   8  Tate  State Farm Center (10,135)
Champaign, IL
Nov 18, 2016*
7:00 pm, ESPN3
Detroit
NIT Season Tip-Off
W 89–69  4–0
 25  Hill   7  Thorne, Jr.   6  Tate  State Farm Center (10,396)
Champaign, IL
Nov 21, 2016*
7:00 pm, ESPN3
Winthrop
NIT Season Tip-Off
L 80–84 OT 4–1
 18  Finke   9  Hill   6  Abrams  State Farm Center (9,502)
Champaign, IL
Nov 24, 2016*
2:00 pm, ESPNU
vs. No. 19 West Virginia
NIT Season Tip-Off semifinals
L 57–89  4–2
 13  Finke   9  Black   4  Tate  Barclays Center (2,451)
Brooklyn, NY
Nov 25, 2016*
11:30 am, ESPNU
vs. No. 25 Florida State
NIT Season Tip-Off 3rd place game
L 61–72  4–3
 18  Hill   11  Black   4  Lucas  Barclays Center (3,713)
Brooklyn, NY
Nov 29, 2016*
8:00 pm, ESPNU
NC State
ACC–Big Ten Challenge
W 88–74  5–3
 22  Hill   9  Hill   4  Hill  State Farm Center (13,481)
Champaign, IL
Dec 3, 2016*
2:00 pm, CBSSN
vs. VCU
Hoophall Miami Invitational
W 64–46  6–3
 18  Black   8  Black   5  Hill  American Airlines Arena 
Miami, FL
Dec 6, 2016*
7:00 pm, ESPN3
IUPUI W 85–77  7–3
 32  Hill   9  Black   6  Abrams  State Farm Center (10,536)
Champaign, IL
Dec 10, 2016*
2:00 pm, BTN+
Central Michigan W 92–73  8–3
 31  Abrams   11  Thorne, Jr.   5  Tate  State Farm Center (13,045)
Champaign, IL
Dec 17, 2016*
8:30 pm, BTN
vs. BYU
State Farm Chicago Legends
W 75–73  9–3
 15  Abrams   10  Morgan   5  Tate  United Center 
Chicago, IL
Dec 21, 2016*
6:00 pm, ESPNU
vs. Missouri
Braggin' Rights
W 75–66  10–3
 21  Hill   11  Morgan   6  Tate  Scottrade Center (12,409)
St. Louis, MO
Big Ten regular season
Dec 27, 2016
4:00 pm, ESPN2
at Maryland L 59–84  10–4
(0–1)
 21  Hill   7  Hill   2  Tied  Xfinity Center (17,950)
College Park, MD
Jan 1, 2017
6:00 pm, BTN
Ohio State W 75–70  11–4
(1–1)
 20  Hill   15  Black   3  Hill  State Farm Center (12,221)
Champaign, IL
Jan 7, 2017
4:00 pm, ESPNU
at No. 25 Indiana
Rivalry
L 80–96  11–5
(1–2)
 21  Tied   4  Tied   4  Lucas  Assembly Hall (16,506)
Bloomington, IN
Jan 11, 2017
8:00 pm, BTN
Michigan W 85–69  12–5
(2–2)
 16  Morgan   8  Nichols   8  Lucas  State Farm Center (11,404)
Champaign, IL
Jan 14, 2017
5:00 pm, ESPN2
Maryland L 56–62  12–6
(2–3)
 15  Morgan   4  Lucas   9  Black  State Farm Center (14,002)
Champaign, IL
Jan 17, 2017
6:00 pm, BTN
at No. 21 Purdue L 68–91  12–7
(2–4)
 15  Morgan   6  Black   5  Hill  Mackey Arena (13,920)
West Lafayette, IN
Jan 21, 2017
1:15 pm, BTN
at Michigan L 57–66  12–8
(2–5)
 16  Hill   5  Hill   4  Hill  Crisler Center (12,234)
Ann Arbor, MI
Jan 25, 2017
8:00 pm, BTN
Iowa
Rivalry
W 76–64  13–8
(3–5)
 17  Finke   7  Tied   6  Lucas  State Farm Center (11,787)
Champaign, IL
Jan 28, 2017
3:30 pm, BTN
at Penn State L 67–71  13–9
(3–6)
 19  Hill   7  Tied   7  Hill  Bryce Jordan Center (10,202)
University Park, PA
Jan 31, 2017
8:00 pm, BTN
No. 10 Wisconsin L 43–57  13–10
(3–7)
 10  Tied   4  4 Tied   2  3 Tied  State Farm Center (12,334)
Champaign, IL
Feb 4, 2017
3:30 pm, BTN
Minnesota L 59-68  13-11
(3-8)
 16  Nichols   11  Morgan   6  Hill  State Farm Center (15,544)
Champaign, IL
Feb 7, 2017
7:00 pm, BTN
at Northwestern
Rivalry
W 68–61  14–11
(4–8)
 14  Hill   9  Hill   6  Lucas  Welsh-Ryan Arena (7,614)
Evanston, IL
Feb 11, 2017
1:00 pm, BTN
Penn State L 70–83  14–12
(4–9)
 14  Hill   5  Finke   7  Lucas  State Farm Center (13,010)
Champaign, IL
Feb 18, 2017
1:00 pm, BTN
at Iowa
Rivalry
W 70–66  15–12
(5–9)
 21  Hill   8  Hill   5  Finke  Carver–Hawkeye Arena (15,400)
Iowa City, IA
Feb 21, 2017
7:00 pm, BTN
Northwestern
Rivalry
W 66–50  16–12
(6–9)
 18  Hill   10  Morgan   5  Hill  State Farm Center (11,206)
Champaign, IL
Feb 26, 2017
6:30 pm, BTN
at Nebraska W 73–57  17–12
(7–9)
 19  Hill   5  Black   6  Abrams  Pinnacle Bank Arena (14,236)
Lincoln, NE
Mar 1, 2017
8:00 pm, BTN
Michigan State W 73–70  18–12
(8–9)
 22  Hill   7  Black   4  Hill  State Farm Center (15,544)
Champaign, IL
Mar 4, 2017
11:00 am, ESPNU
at Rutgers L 59–62  18–13
(8–10)
 16  Morgan   8  Morgan   7  Hill  Louis Brown Athletic Center (5,706)
Piscataway, NJ
Big Ten tournament
Mar 9, 2017
12:00 pm, BTN
(9) vs. (8) Michigan
Second Round
L 55–75  18–14
 23  Abrams   7  Finke   3  Lucas  Verizon Center (12,189)
Washington, D.C.
NIT
Mar 14, 2017*
6:15 pm, ESPN2
(2) (7) Valparaiso
First Round – Illinois State Bracket
W 82–57  19–14
 25  Hill   12  Black   6  Lucas  State Farm Center (4,719)
Champaign, IL
Mar 20, 2017*
8:00 pm, ESPN
(2) (6) Boise State
Second Round – Illinois State Bracket
W 71–56  20–14
 18  Abrams   10  Black   7  Lucas  State Farm Center (5,713)
Champaign, IL
Mar 22, 2017*
6:00 pm, ESPN2
(2) at (4) UCF
Quarterfinals – Illinois State Bracket
L 58–68  20–15
 29  Hill   7  Black   6  Lucas  CFE Arena (10,011)
Orlando, FL
*Non-conference game. #Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses.
All times are in Central Time.

References

[edit]
  1. ^ Ryan, Shannon. "Illinois fires men's basketball coach John Groce after five seasons". chicagotribune.com. Retrieved March 13, 2017.
  2. ^ "Illinois fires John Groce after 37-53 Big Ten mark in five seasons". CBSSports.com. Retrieved March 13, 2017.
  3. ^ Vainisi, Jim (March 12, 2017). "Illinois receives 2 seed, will host Valparaiso in First Round". The Champaign Room. Retrieved March 17, 2017.
  4. ^ Smith, Erick (March 18, 2017). "Illinois hires Oklahoma State's Brad Underwood as new coach". USA TODAY. Retrieved April 4, 2017.
  5. ^ Paul, Tony (June 23, 2016). "Ex-Illinois star Nunn to join Golden Grizzlies". Detroit News. Retrieved June 23, 2016.
  6. ^ Vainisi, Jim (July 21, 2016). "Creighton guard Drew Cayce is transferring to Illinois Basketball as a walk-on". SB Nation. Retrieved July 27, 2016.
  7. ^ Ryan, Shannon (November 11, 2015). "Four-star point guard Te'Jon Lucas signs with Illinois". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved November 30, 2015.
  8. ^ Stewart, Mark (September 16, 2015). "Washington basketball star Te'Jon Lucas commits to Illinois". Journal Sentinel. Retrieved November 30, 2015.
  9. ^ Jackson, Marcus (September 16, 2015). "Te'Jon Lucas: 'We'll be celebrating'". News Gazette. Retrieved November 30, 2015.
  10. ^ "2016-17 Men's Basketball Schedule".