Unexpectedflash

Rice, Karlyle, Galloway, Mgbako, Ballo is probably my ideal closing lineup. Hopefully Reneau works on his shooting. I'm so tired of our feed the post every play offense.

Injuries obviously happen but knock on wood because Ballo hasn't missed a game in 3 years. Goode was the backup "4" for the Illini last year. I think he'd be fine there on the court next to Ballo.

Everyone always thinks they're deep and when the season actually starts they end up playing 8 guys but I can legitimately see us having 9 rotation guys playing big minutes. Hopefully the hemenway signing signals a shift to more three guard lineups and perimeter oriented play because I don't see how we fit in everyone otherwise. Reneau is the backup center in my head but having another 7 footer to come in and bang is always nice. As shocked as I am to say this, I love how the roster has turned out. They are easily the most talented team in the big ten. Now it's up to the coaching staff to make it all work.

Underrated aspect of Goode is he's a great offensive rebounder from the wing which is something we had very little of last year

Seen a lot of illinois fans say he's a bad starter but an amazing complementary piece off the bench and are sad to see him go

We also have Mgbako to slide over to the 4. Most good teams only play like 8 players anyways

Dang I wanted Anderson. Still think we need a down shooter at the 4 and then another one at the 2/3 like Goode

Oooo I’d actually like this. Good shooter that knows his role and has been on winning teams

I think our core roster is set for the most part. Interested to see who we add with those last three spots but what're you guys early expectations for next year? The big ten appears to be down again next year and we are probably the most talented team in the big ten. Rutgers and UCLA should also be good along with Purdue and Illinois being in the mix like always but I think expectations should be a Big ten title and Sweet 16 appearance if everything gels right.

Any rumors on who we're looking at to to fill the last 3 roster spots? I think we need a backup center even though we should stagger reneau and ballo so Reneau plays a lot of 5. I would love Humrichous since he is the shooter we need. I'd like one more knock down shooter also.

I agree. He's a hard player to build around. I would much rather have mgbako at the four and use all the money we're paying Reneau to get someone like Rylan griffen, who is one of the best 3 and D players in the country.

I actually think we may be number 1 in NIL this year lol. Just reading some boards I saw KU and UNC are around 4 million and they're both regarded as top 5 in NIL. It has to be appealing to whatever coach we may get in the future that they could realistically get whatever team they want with the amount of money we have. I am sure it is frustrating to some of these coaches at lower schools to lose their best players because they cannot pay up. I know a lot of coaches don't like recruiting but Woody has shown here you don't really have to put in effort all year until the portal opens up and just outbid everyone and you can still get a talented team.

He actually grew two inches between high school and his sophomore year so he has the size of a forward with the ball handling skills of a guard. He's going to be a stud with a bigger role. I know kentucky fans were really sad to lose him.

I love Thiero. He's an absolute dog and plays with his hair on fire. i don't see the fit lol with our lack of shooters but he would be a great four honestly here. He has a lot of potential. Stacking talent is the name of the game. A rice, carlyle, Mgbako, Thiero, Ballo lineup is really fun. Athleticism everywhere and I think the shooting would be good enough. They'd get up and down the court and be able to switch pretty much everything on defense.

Probably a hot take but I wouldn’t be heartbroken over that if they went out and got a 3 and D wing