Notes: Illini raise another banner
CHAMPAIGN Illinois raised another Big Ten tournament championship banner to the State Farm Center rafters before Friday nights game against SIU Edwardsville.
A celebration of a 29-9 team that got hot in Minneapolis to claim the league tournament title and then parlayed that success into an Elite Eight run.
Most of the players from that team werent in attendance.
Only two scholarship players remain, and only Dra Gibbs-Lawhorn played Friday night against the Cougars, with Ty Rodgers having opted to redshirt the 2024-25 season.
Six others are playing college basketball elsewhere this season after hitting the transfer portal this past spring.
Sencire Harris and Amani Hansberry suited up for West Virginia on Friday night against Massachusetts.
Nico Moretti was also in action for Florida Atlantic against Coastal Georgia.
The other offseason departures via the portal included Dain Dainja (Memphis), Coleman Hawkins (Kansas State) and Luke Goode (Indiana).
There were some professional obligations, too.
Fresh off scoring his first career NBA points Thursday back home in Chicago, no less Terrence Shannon Jr.
was in Minneapolis with the Minnesota Timberwolves hosting the Portland Trail Blazers on Friday night.
Unfortunately weve got guys with pro careers that are still playing that wont be here to celebrate that, but well make sure they all get the video, they all get their rings, Illinois coach Brad Underwood said.
Max Williams was the only former Illini that could attend Fridays banner raising and ring ceremony.
The former walk-on guard, who earned a scholarship in the second semester of last season, drew just as much praise from Underwood as any player hed coached might.
To see him come back and want to be a part of this, he deserves that, right, Underwood said of Williams.
He was out there every single day.
You didnt see him on the court, but he was out there making guys better.
Fighting Marcus Domask every day in booty ball.
Guarding Terrence Shannon.
Theres tremendous value in that.
My hats off to Max.
What a wonderful young man.
He deserves the opportunity to be recognized and wear that ring.
Tomislav Ivisic was in the starting lineup Friday against SIUE four days after rolling his ankle in Illinois season opener against Eastern Illinois.
The sophomore center did return against the Panthers, as hes dealt with a lingering injury to that ankle.
I sprained the same ankle two weeks ago in practice, Ivisic said.
I already had a little problem with that, so when it happened the next next time it kind of hurt more.
I went to the locker room and taped it better.
It wasnt that big of an injury.
Its not perfect, but its going to be fine.
Ivisic had a double-double in his Illinois debut, finishing with 14 points and 14 rebounds in the 112-67 victory against EIU.
The only aspect of his game that could be nitpicked from that performance was his three-point shooting, with the 7-foot-1 Croatian shooting 1 of 6 from beyond the arc.
Shots Underwood was more than OK with his starting center taking.
Tomi was a couple threes away from having just a stellar night, the Illinois coach said.
Hes been one of our best three-point shooters, statistically, throughout practice.
If he gets six of them, if he gets 10 of them, if he gets 12 of them, Im all-in.
I think hes going to make them.
Ivisic didnt necessarily have the green light to launch from the three-point line the past three seasons playing for SC Derby in the Adriatic League.
At least not as often as Underwood wants him to do with the Illini.
I always had a good shot; I just didnt shoot a lot in the games, Ivisic said.
He shot a career best 42.3 percent from beyond the arc last season for SC Derby.
The (Illinois) coaches recognized that, Ivisic continued.
In practices, when I got here, they forced me to shoot a lot.
Last game wasnt a perfect shooting game.
The coaches trust in my shot.
Teammates trust in my shot.
Im grateful for that.
Underwood said Ivisics shooting ability was something the Illinois staff was able to dive into reviewing his film during the recruiting process.
While he only took 2-3 three-pointers per game, his efficiency doing so prompted the push to do it more often once he got to Champaign.
We were like, We need to tap into this, Underwood said.
I think Tomi can be one of the best shooting bigs in the country.
...
Its coverage based.
Tomi has the ability to do whatever the defense gives him.
(Monday) night there were a lot of pops and a lot of opportunities, yet when he rolls, hes 7-1 at the rim so you better be able to protect against that and those lobs because hes a better athlete vertically than most people think.
A better passer, too.
Ivisic has a pair of assists in the season opener, facilitating out of the post.
Underwood said his starting center can elevate the Illini with his passing.
I think of myself as a pretty good passer, Ivisic said.
When I was younger, I played a lot with the ball.
From the low-post situations when they double team or somebody is going to help, I think I can always find an open teammate.
The early returns for this new-look Illinois roster at least this week have been positive.
But not perfect.
Theres still some adjustments to be made for a team that has 10 newcomers.
Were still getting used to each other, but this team is super talented, Ivisic said.
A shooting team with a lot of offensive potential.
Were working on our defense and working on our chemistry.
That offensive potential is where Ivisics teammates are in agreement.
We play really fast, freshman forward Will Riley said.
We shoot a lot of threes.
Its really hard to beat a team that shoots a lot of threes when were shooting them at a high clip.
We have a lot of players who can do almost everything shoot, drive, handle the ball a little bit, Gibbs-Lawhorn added.
That just helps us.
We can stay spaced and weve got shooters on the floor, and theres not too many people who can stay in front of us without fouling or without help..
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