2022–23 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team

2022–23 Big Ten Conference men's basketball standings
	† 2023 Big Ten tournament winner; As of November 13, 2023; Rankings from AP poll

2022–23 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball
2022–23 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball
Conference	Big Ten Conference
Ranking
Coaches	No. 23
AP	No. 23
Head coach	Brad Underwood (6th season);
Assistant coaches	Chester Frazier; Tim Anderson; Geoff Alexander;
Home arena	State Farm Center
	Seasons ← 2021–22 2023–24 →

The 2022–23 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team will represent the University of Illinois in the 2022–23 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. Led by sixth-year head coach Brad Underwood, the Illini will play their home games at the State Farm Center in Champaign, Illinois as members of the Big Ten Conference.

Previous season

The Illini finished the 2021–22 season 23–10, 15–5 in Big Ten play to finish in a tie for the regular season championship. As the No. 1 seed in the Big Ten tournament, they were defeated by No. 9 seed Indiana in the quarterfinals.^[1] They received an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament as the No. 4 seed in the South Region, where they defeated Chattanooga in the First Round before losing to Houston in the Second Round.^[2]

Offseason

Departures

Name	Number	Pos.	Height	Weight	Year	Hometown	Notes	Reference
Benjamin Bosmans-Verdonk	13	F	6'8"	235	Redshirt Sophomore	Lommel, Belgium	Transferred to South Carolina	^[3]
Kofi Cockburn	21	C	7'0"	285	Junior	Kingston, Jamaica	Undrafted in 2022 NBA draft, signed with Utah Jazz	^[4]
André Curbelo	5	G	6'1"	175	Sophomore	Vega Baja, Puerto Rico	Transferred to St. John's	^[5]
Trent Frazier	11	G	6'2"	175	Senior	Wellington, Florida	Graduated, signed with KK FMP	^[6]
Jacob Grandison	3	G/F	6'6"	210	Graduate Student	Oakland, California	Transferred to Duke	^[7]
Austin Hutcherson	22	G	6'6"	190	Graduate Student	New York City, New York	Undrafted in 2022 NBA draft	^[8]
Omar Payne	4	F	6'10"	240	Junior	Kissimmee, Florida	Transferred to Jacksonville	^[9]
Alfonso Plummer	11	G	6'1"	180	Graduate Student	Fajardo, Puerto Rico	Graduated	^[10]
Brandin Podziemski	0	G	6'5"	200	Freshman	Muskego, Wisconsin	Transferred to Santa Clara	^[11]
Da'Monte Williams	20	G	6'3"	215	Senior	Peoria, Illinois	Graduated	^[12]

Incoming transfers

Name	Pos.	Height	Weight	Year	Hometown	Previous School
Dain Dainja	F	6'9"	270	Redshirt Sophomore	Brooklyn Park, Minnesota	Baylor
Matthew Mayer	F	6'9"	225	Senior	Austin, Texas	Baylor
Terrence Shannon Jr.	G	6'6"	215	Senior	Chicago, Illinois	Texas Tech

2022 recruiting class

US college sports recruiting information for high school athletes
Name	Hometown	High school / college	Height	Weight	Commit date
Skyy Clark PG	Nashville, Tennessee	Montverde Academy	6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)	210 lb (95 kg)	Apr 7, 2022
Skyy Clark PG	Recruiting star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: ESPN: ESPN grade: 89
Jayden Epps CG	Suffolk, Virginia	Combine Academy	6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)	195 lb (88 kg)	Jul 13, 2021
Jayden Epps CG	Recruiting star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: ESPN: ESPN grade: 83
Sencire Harris SG	Akron, Ohio	St. Vincent–St. Mary High School	6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)	180 lb (82 kg)	Jul 3, 2021
Sencire Harris SG	Recruiting star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: ESPN: ESPN grade: 81
Ty Rodgers SF / PF	Grand Blanc, Michigan	Thornton Township High School	6 ft 6 in (1.98 m)	210 lb (95 kg)	Nov 17, 2021
Ty Rodgers SF / PF	Recruiting star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: ESPN: ESPN grade: 85
Paxton Warden SG	Glen Ellyn, Illinois	Glenbard West High School	6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)	175 lb (79 kg)	Jan 19, 2022
Paxton Warden SG	Recruiting star ratings: Scout: N/A Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A
Overall recruiting rankings: Rivals: 9 247Sports: 9
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: "2022 Team Ranking". Rivals.com.

Roster

2022–23 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team

Players

Coaches

Pos.	#	Name	Height	Weight	Year	Previous school	Hometown
G	0	Terrence Shannon Jr.	6 ft 6 in (1.98 m)	215 lb (98 kg)	Sr	IMG Academy / Texas Tech	Chicago, Illinois
G	1	Sencire Harris	6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)	160 lb (73 kg)	Fr	St. Vincent–St. Mary	North Canton, Ohio
F	2	Connor Serven (W)	6 ft 9 in (2.06 m)	235 lb (107 kg)	Jr	St. Rita	Bushnell, Illinois
G	3	Jayden Epps	6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)	190 lb (86 kg)	Fr	Combine Academy	Suffolk, Virginia
G	10	Luke Goode	6 ft 7 in (2.01 m)	210 lb (95 kg)	So	Homestead	Fort Wayne, Indiana
C	12	Brandon Lieb	7 ft 0 in (2.13 m)	220 lb (100 kg)	Jr	Deerfield	Deerfield, Illinois
G	15	RJ Meléndez	6 ft 7 in (2.01 m)	205 lb (93 kg)	So	Central Pointe Christian Academy	Arecibo, Puerto Rico
F	20	Ty Rodgers	6 ft 6 in (1.98 m)	220 lb (100 kg)	Fr	Thornton Township	Saginaw, Michigan
G	22	Paxton Warden (W)	6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)	180 lb (82 kg)	Fr	Glenbard West	Glen Ellyn, Illinois
F	24	Matthew Mayer	6 ft 9 in (2.06 m)	225 lb (102 kg)	Sr	Westlake / Baylor	Austin, Texas
F	33	Coleman Hawkins	6 ft 10 in (2.08 m)	225 lb (102 kg)	Jr	Prolific Prep	Sacramento, California
F	42	Dain Dainja	6 ft 9 in (2.06 m)	270 lb (122 kg)	RS So	Park Center / Baylor	Brooklyn Park, Minnesota
G	55	Skyy Clark	6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)	200 lb (91 kg)	Fr	Montverde Academy	Los Angeles, California

Head coach

Brad Underwood (Oklahoma State University)

Assistant coach(es)

Legend

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

Injured
Current redshirt

Roster
Last update: 7/13/2022

Schedule and results

Date time, TV	Rank^#	Opponent^#	Result	Record	High points	High rebounds	High assists	Site (attendance) city, state
Exhibition
October 28, 2022* 7:00 p.m., BTN+	No. 23	Quincy	W 87–52	–	15 – Tied	12 – Hawkins	3 – Tied	State Farm Center (15,051) Champaign, IL
Regular Season
November 7, 2022* 8:00 p.m., ESPNU	No. 23	Eastern Illinois						State Farm Center Champaign, IL
November 11, 2022* 8:00 p.m., BTN	No. 23	Kansas City						State Farm Center Champaign, IL
November 14, 2022* 7:00 p.m., BTN+		Monmouth Roman Main Event campus site game						State Farm Center Champaign, IL
November 18, 2022* 8:30 p.m., ESPNU		vs. UCLA Roman Main Event semifinal						T-Mobile Arena Paradise, NV
November 19, 2022* 2:00 p.m./4:30 p.m., ESPN		vs. Baylor/Virginia Roman Main Event championship/third place game						T-Mobile Arena Paradise, NV
November 25, 2022* 8:00 p.m., BTN+		Lindenwood						State Farm Center Champaign, IL
November 29, 2022* 7:00 p.m./7:30 p.m., ESPN/ESPN2		Syracuse ACC/B1G Challenge						State Farm Center Champaign, IL
December 2, 2022 6:00 p.m./8:00 p.m., BTN		at Maryland						Xfinity Center College Park, MD
December 6, 2022* 6:00 p.m., ESPN		vs. Texas Jimmy V Classic						Madison Square Garden New York, NY
December 10, 2022 11:00 a.m., BTN		Penn State						State Farm Center Champaign, IL
December 17, 2022* 3:00 p.m., BTN		Alabama A&M						State Farm Center Champaign, IL
December 22, 2022* TBD		vs. Missouri Braggin' Rights						Enterprise Center St. Louis, MO
December 29, 2022* 7:30 p.m., FS1		Bethune–Cookman						State Farm Center Champaign, IL
January 4, 2023 8:00 p.m., BTN		at Northwestern Rivalry						Welsh–Ryan Arena Evanston, IL
January 7, 2023 12:30 p.m./1:00 p.m., ESPN2		Wisconsin						State Farm Center Champaign, IL
January 10, 2023 8:00 p.m., BTN		at Nebraska						Pinnacle Bank Arena Lincoln, NE
January 13, 2023 8:00 p.m., FS1		Michigan State						State Farm Center Champaign, IL
January 16, 2023 5:00 p.m., BTN		at Minnesota						Williams Arena Minneapolis, MN
January 19, 2023 7:30 p.m., FS1		Indiana Rivalry						State Farm Center Champaign, IL
January 24, 2023 6:00 p.m., ESPN/ESPN2		Ohio State						State Farm Center Champaign, IL
January 28, 2023 1:00 p.m., FOX		at Wisconsin						Kohl Center Madison, WI
January 31, 2023 6:30 p.m., BTN		Nebraska						State Farm Center Champaign, IL
February 4, 2023 1:30 p.m., FOX		at Iowa Rivalry						Carver–Hawkeye Arena Iowa City, IA
February 7, 2023 7:30 p.m., BTN		Minnesota						State Farm Center Champaign, IL
February 11, 2023 1:00 p.m., FS1		Rutgers						State Farm Center Champaign, IL
February 14, 2023 6:00 p.m., ESPN/ESPN2/ESPNU		at Penn State						Bryce Jordan Center University Park, PA
February 18, 2023 11:00 a.m., ESPN/ESPN2		at Indiana Rivalry						Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall Bloomington, IN
February 23, 2023 8:00 p.m., BTN		Northwestern Rivalry						State Farm Center Champaign, IL
February 26, 2023 11:00 a.m., CBS		at Ohio State						Value City Arena Columbus, OH
March 2, 2023 6:00 p.m., ESPN		Michigan						State Farm Center Champaign, IL
March 5, 2023 11:30 a.m., FOX		at Purdue						Mackey Arena West Lafayette, IN
Big Ten tournament
March 8–12, 2023 TBD, BTN		vs. TBD						United Center Chicago, IL
*Non-conference game. ^#Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Central Time.

References

^ "Jackson-Davis leads Indiana past No. 16 Illinois 65-63". CBS Sports. March 11, 2022. Archived from the original on April 1, 2022. Retrieved July 13, 2022.
^ Cooper, Sam (March 20, 2022). "NCAA men's tournament: Illinois overwhelmed by Houston, bows out in 2nd round again". Yahoo Sports. Archived from the original on April 26, 2022. Retrieved July 13, 2022.
^ Beherns, Bret (May 11, 2022). "Benjamin Bosmans-Verdonk commits to South Carolina". WCIA. Archived from the original on May 14, 2022. Retrieved July 13, 2022.
^ Brennan, Eamonn (June 24, 2022). "What Kofi Cockburn brings to the Utah Jazz". The Athletic. Archived from the original on June 24, 2022. Retrieved July 13, 2022.
^ Borzello, Jeff (April 15, 2022). "Andre Curbelo transferring to St. John's after leaving Illinois". ESPN. Archived from the original on May 11, 2022. Retrieved July 13, 2022.
^ Werner, Jeremy (June 10, 2022). "Trent Frazier signs pro contract with European team". 247Sports. Archived from the original on June 11, 2022. Retrieved July 13, 2022.
^ McDaniel, Mike (June 11, 2022). "Duke Men's Basketball Lands Illinois Transfer Jacob Grandison". Sports Illustrated. Archived from the original on June 14, 2022. Retrieved July 13, 2022.
^ Richey, Scott (May 31, 2022). "Good Morning, Illini Nation: Austin Hutcherson, we hardly knew you". The News-Gazette. Archived from the original on May 31, 2022. Retrieved July 13, 2022.
^ Smits, Garry (April 13, 2022). "Former Florida Gator Omar Payne announces his intention to transfer to Jacksonville University". Florida Times-Union. Archived from the original on July 13, 2022. Retrieved July 13, 2022.
^ Richey, Scott (June 23, 2022). "Good Morning, Illini Nation: Alfonso Plummer and the NBA?". The News-Gazette. Archived from the original on July 13, 2022. Retrieved July 13, 2022.
^ "Illinois Transfer Brandin Podziemski Signs With Santa Clara MBB". Santa Clara Athletics. May 6, 2022. Archived from the original on May 8, 2022. Retrieved July 13, 2022.
^ Kim, James (June 20, 2022). "Active offseason sees Illinois men's basketball welcome seven high-caliber players for 2022–23 season". The Daily Illini. Archived from the original on June 23, 2022. Retrieved July 13, 2022.

[1] "Jackson-Davis leads Indiana past No. 16 Illinois 65-63". CBS Sports. March 11, 2022. Archived from the original on April 1, 2022. Retrieved July 13, 2022.

[2] Cooper, Sam (March 20, 2022). "NCAA men's tournament: Illinois overwhelmed by Houston, bows out in 2nd round again". Yahoo Sports. Archived from the original on April 26, 2022. Retrieved July 13, 2022.

[BBV_SC-3] Beherns, Bret (May 11, 2022). "Benjamin Bosmans-Verdonk commits to South Carolina". WCIA. Archived from the original on May 14, 2022. Retrieved July 13, 2022.

[Kofi_TA-4] Brennan, Eamonn (June 24, 2022). "What Kofi Cockburn brings to the Utah Jazz". The Athletic. Archived from the original on June 24, 2022. Retrieved July 13, 2022.

[Curbelo_ESPN-5] Borzello, Jeff (April 15, 2022). "Andre Curbelo transferring to St. John's after leaving Illinois". ESPN. Archived from the original on May 11, 2022. Retrieved July 13, 2022.

[Frazier_Pro-6] Werner, Jeremy (June 10, 2022). "Trent Frazier signs pro contract with European team". 247Sports. Archived from the original on June 11, 2022. Retrieved July 13, 2022.

[Grandison_Duke-7] McDaniel, Mike (June 11, 2022). "Duke Men's Basketball Lands Illinois Transfer Jacob Grandison". Sports Illustrated. Archived from the original on June 14, 2022. Retrieved July 13, 2022.

[Hutcherson-8] Richey, Scott (May 31, 2022). "Good Morning, Illini Nation: Austin Hutcherson, we hardly knew you". The News-Gazette. Archived from the original on May 31, 2022. Retrieved July 13, 2022.

[Payne-9] Smits, Garry (April 13, 2022). "Former Florida Gator Omar Payne announces his intention to transfer to Jacksonville University". Florida Times-Union. Archived from the original on July 13, 2022. Retrieved July 13, 2022.

[Plummer-10] Richey, Scott (June 23, 2022). "Good Morning, Illini Nation: Alfonso Plummer and the NBA?". The News-Gazette. Archived from the original on July 13, 2022. Retrieved July 13, 2022.

[BP-11] "Illinois Transfer Brandin Podziemski Signs With Santa Clara MBB". Santa Clara Athletics. May 6, 2022. Archived from the original on May 8, 2022. Retrieved July 13, 2022.

[DW-12] Kim, James (June 20, 2022). "Active offseason sees Illinois men's basketball welcome seven high-caliber players for 2022–23 season". The Daily Illini. Archived from the original on June 23, 2022. Retrieved July 13, 2022.

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Helms and Premo-Porretta national championships in bold; NCAA Final Four appearances in italics

2022–23 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team

Contents

Previous season

Offseason

Departures

Incoming transfers

2022 recruiting class

Roster

Schedule and results

References

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