It is going to be tough to tell what kind of team the Illini are going to have for the upcoming season. The Illini lost some of the leading voices on their team. They have a couple juniors that will have to be the voice of reason and lead this team during the 2011-2012 season.
They have five total recruits in the 2011 recruiting class. Four of those five recruits are ESPNU Top 100 prospects, giving Illinois the 11th ranked recruiting class in the nation. Nnanna Egwu is the top prospect in the class with the most hype behind him. He should be able to contribute immediately as a freshman for the Fighting Illini.
Joe Lunardi has projected the Illini as a 12 seed in his early predicitons for the NCAA Tournament. I think it could be a fair representation of how everyone thinks that Illinois will do this season. They have a lot of questions but with the quality of their recruiting class, they still can make the tournament.
Illinois schedule starts out fairly easy. Loyola, SIUE and Lipscomb are the first three games and they should all be wins.
After that Illinois travels to Mexico for the Cancun Challenge. It involves Rutgers, Illinois State and Richmond. Illinois will for sure play Richmond in there first game when they arrive. The next game will either be ISU or Rutgers. Rutgers and Richmond will be a better test to see how Illinois is going to perform this year. I would consider Illinois the favorite in Cancun but you can never be too sure, as Purdue found out last year when they were upset by Richmond in an early season tournament.
For the Big Ten/ACC Challenge, the Fighting Illini face Maryland on the road. This is Illinois first true road test of the season. At this time, they shouldn't really have any losses, but you never know, any team can win on any given day.
Right after the Maryland game, Illinois flies home to take on Gonzaga at home. Gonzaga is expected to be ranked, so consider the Illini to be put on watch. Illinois will play rival Missouri, as they do every year, right before conference play starts.
In conference play, Illinois toughest stretch, unfortunately, looks like it will be their final six games of the regular season. In that stretch they play Purdue, at Nebraska, at Ohio State, vs Iowa, vs Michigan and end at Wisconsin. That is a brutal stretch to end your season and will more than likely decide their NCAA Tournament fate. They could possibly only win two of those six games, if that happens, I think they would have to make a finals push in the Big Ten Tournament to get to the NCAA Tournament.
I am looking forward to seeing what kind of season Bruce Weber and the Fighting Illini can put together. It should be an interesting ride all the way to March Madness.
(Click below for the full SCHEDULE and ROSTER. . . plus a POLL!)
THE SCHEDULE:
Date
Opponent / Event
Location
Time / Result
08/06/11
Alumni Game #
Assembly Hall
W, 70-67
10/23/11
Orange & Blue Scrimmage #
Assembly Hall
4:00 p.m. CT
11/01/11
vs. Wayne State (Neb.) #
Assembly Hall
7:30 p.m. CT
11/07/11
vs. Quincy #
Assembly Hall
7:30 p.m. CT
11/11/11
vs. Loyola (Chicago)
Assembly Hall
8:00 p.m. CT
Cancun Challenge
11/14/11
vs. SIU Edwardsville
Assembly Hall
7:30 p.m. CT
11/17/11
vs. Lipscomb
Assembly Hall
8:00 p.m. CT
11/22/11
vs. Richmond
Cancun, Mexico
TBA
11/23/11
vs. Rutgers OR Illinois State
Cancun, Mexico
TBA
11/27/11
vs. Chicago State
Assembly Hall
12:00 p.m. CT
11/29/11
at Maryland
College Park, Md.
6:30 p.m. CT
12/03/11
vs. Gonzaga
Assembly Hall
2:15 p.m. CT
12/07/11
vs. St. Bonaventure
Assembly Hall
8:00 p.m. CT
12/11/11
vs. Coppin State
Assembly Hall
7:00 p.m. CT
12/17/11
vs. UNLV
Chicago, Ill.
4:00 p.m. CT
12/19/11
vs. Cornell
Assembly Hall
7:00 p.m. CT
12/22/11
vs. Missouri
St. Louis, Mo.
8:00 p.m. CT
12/27/11
vs. Minnesota *
Assembly Hall
6:30 p.m. CT
12/31/11
at Purdue *
West Lafayette, Ind.
3:00 p.m. CT
01/04/12
at Northwestern *
Evanston, Ill.
6:00 p.m. CT
01/07/12
vs. Nebraska *
Assembly Hall
12:00 p.m. CT
01/10/12
vs. Ohio State *
Assembly Hall
8:00 p.m. CT
01/19/12
at Penn State *
University Park, Pa.
8:00 p.m. CT
01/22/12
vs. Wisconsin *
Assembly Hall
1:00 p.m. CT
01/28/12
at Minnesota *
Minneapolis, Minn.
7:00 p.m. CT
01/31/12
vs. Michigan State *
Assembly Hall
6:00 p.m. CT
02/05/12
vs. Northwestern *
Assembly Hall
2:00 p.m. CT
02/09/12
at Indiana *
Bloomington, Ind.
7:00 p.m. CT
02/12/12
at Michigan *
Ann Arbor, Mich.
12:00 p.m. CT
02/15/12
vs. Purdue *
Assembly Hall
7:30 p.m. CT
02/18/12
at Nebraska *
Lincoln, Neb.
4:00 p.m. CT
02/21/12
at Ohio State *
Columbus, Ohio
6:00 p.m. CT
02/26/12
vs. Iowa *
Assembly Hall
5:00 p.m. CT
03/01/12
vs. Michigan *
Assembly Hall
6:00 p.m. CT
03/04/12
at Wisconsin *
Madison, Wis.
TBA
Big Ten Tournament
03/08/12
vs. TBA
Indianapolis, Ind.
TBA
03/09/12
vs. TBA
Indianapolis, Ind.
TBA
03/10/12
vs. TBA
Indianapolis, Ind.
TBA
03/11/12
vs. TBA
Indianapolis, Ind.
2:30 p.m. CT
THE ROSTER:
No.
Name
Ht.
Wt.
Position
Year
Hometown
High School
Last School
0
Sam Maniscalco
6-0
180
Guard
GS
Chicago, Ill.
St. Patrick
Bradley
1
D.J. Richardson
6-3
195
Guard
JR
Peoria, Ill.
Central
Findlay (Nev.) Prep
2
Joseph Bertrand
6-5
195
Guard
RS SO
Sterling, Ill.
Sterling
Sterling
3
Brandon Paul
6-4
200
Guard
JR
Gurnee, Ill.
Warren
Warren
4
Crandall Head
6-4
190
Guard
SO
Matteson, Ill.
Rich South
Rich South
12
Meyers Leonard
7-1
245
Center
SO
Robinson, Ill.
Robinson
Robinson
13
Tracy Abrams
6-1
185
Guard
FR
Chicago, Ill.
Mount Carmel
Mount Carmel
15
Mike Shaw
6-8
230
Forward
FR
Chicago, Ill.
De La Salle
De La Salle
20
Myke Henry
6-6
230
Guard/Forward
FR
Chicago, Ill.
Orr
Orr
21
Devin Langford
6-7
200
Guard/Forward
FR
Huntsville, Ala.
Lee
Lee
23
Ibby Djimde
6-8
250
Forward/Center
FR
Bamako, Mali
Huntington (W.Va.) Prep
Huntington (W.Va.) Prep
25
Jean Selus
6-2
195
Guard
SR
Montreal, Quebec
Winter Garden (Fla.)
Parkland (Ill.) College
32
Nnanna Egwu
6-11
245
Forward/Center
FR
Chicago, Ill.
Saint Ignatius
Saint Ignatius
42
Tyler Griffey
6-8
230
Forward
JR
Wildwood, Mo.
Lafayette
Lafayette
44
Kevin Berardini
6-0
175
Guard
RS SO
Lake Forest, Ill.
Lake Forest
Loyola Marymount