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2017–18 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team

2017–18 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball

Big Ten Conference
14–18 (4–14 Big Ten)
Brad Underwood (1st season)
Orlando Antigua (1st season)
Jamall Walker (6th season)
Ron Coleman (1st season)
Leron Black
State Farm Center

The 2017–18 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team represented the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign in the 2017–18 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. Led by first-year head coach Brad Underwood, the Illini played their home games at State Farm Center in Champaign, Illinois as members of the Big Ten Conference. They finished the season 14–18, 4–14 in Big Ten play to finish in a three-way tie for 11th place. As the No. 13 seed in the Big Ten tournament, they lost in the first round to Iowa.

The Illini finished the 2016–17 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. On March 18, the school hired Brad Underwood as the new head coach.

Following Brad Underwood's hiring as head coach, Jamall Walker was retained as an assistant. Underwood hired controversial former South Florida head coach Orlando Antigua who was fired as head coach from South Florida due to an NCAA investigation into academic violations. Underwood also hired Ron Coleman as an assistant and Stephen Gentry as assistant to the head coach.

Name	Number	Pos.	Height	Weight	Year	Hometown	Notes
D. J. Williams	0	G	6'7"	210	Sophomore	Chicago, Illinois	Transfer to George Washington
Jaylon Tate	1	G	6'3"	170	Senior	Chicago, Illinois	Graduated and pro for Niagara River Lions
Jalen Coleman-Lands	5	G	6'3"	190	Sophomore	Indianapolis, Indiana	Transfer to DePaul
Tracy Abrams	13	G	6'2"	185	Graduate student	Chicago, Illinois	Graduated
Malcolm Hill	21	G	6'6"	225	Senior	Fairview Heights, Illinois	Graduated
Maverick Morgan	22	C	6'10"	245	Senior	Springboro, Ohio	Graduated and pro for GTK Gliwice
Mike Thorne Jr.	33	C	6'11"	280	Graduate student	Fayetteville, North Carolina	Graduated
Alex Austin	44	G	6'4"	190	Senior	Chicago, Illinois	Graduated

On January 16, 2016, three-star shooting guard Javon Pickett of Belleville, Illinois verbally committed to attend Illinois in the fall of 2017. After the firing of John Groce, Pickett asked for and received a release of his letter of intent to Illinois. On November 17, 2016, four-star recruit Jeremiah Tilmon announced that he had signed his letter of intent with Illinois the previous day, after a week of press uncertainty. However, after the coaching change at Illinois, Tilmon requested and received a release of his letter of intent with the school.

Name	Hometown	School	Height	Weight	Commit date
Mark Alstork PG	Dayton, OH	Thurgood Marshall (OH) / Ball State / Wright State	6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)	190 lb (86 kg)	May 24, 2017
Recruit ratings: No ratings found
Tyler Underwood PG	Nacogdoches, TX	Nacogdoches (TX) / Oklahoma State	6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)	165 lb (75 kg)	Mar 22, 2017
Recruit ratings: No ratings found
Overall recruit ranking:
Note: In many cases, Scout, Rivals, 247Sports, On3, 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:

During Illinois' final home game against Minnesota on February 28, 2016, Da'Monte Williams verbally committed to attend Illinois in the fall of 2017. Williams is the son of former Illinois guard Frank Williams who led the Fighting Illini to three straight NCAA men's basketball tournament appearances, including an Elite Eight appearance in 2001. On November 9, 2016 Trent Frazier signed a national letter of intent after considering Memphis, Georgia, Kansas State and Seton Hall, among others. On April 27, 2017, four-star point guard Mark Smith, Mr. Illinois Basketball for 2017, announced he would attend Illinois. On June 12, Slovenian bigman Matic Vesel committed to Illinois.

Name	Hometown	School	Height	Weight	Commit date
Greg Eboigbodin F	Benin City, NG	University of Detroit Jesuit High School (MI)	6 ft 9 in (2.06 m)	220 lb (100 kg)	Jun 6, 2017
Recruit ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: ESPN:
Trent Frazier PG	West Palm Beach, FL	Wellington (FL)	6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)	170 lb (77 kg)	Aug 20, 2016
Recruit ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: ESPN:
Mark Smith PG	Edwardsville, IL	Edwardsville IL	6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)	225 lb (102 kg)	Apr 27, 2017
Recruit ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: ESPN:
Matic Vesel F	Ljubljana, RS	Helios Suns Domžale	6 ft 9 in (2.06 m)	196 lb (89 kg)	Jun 12, 2017
Recruit ratings: No ratings found
Da'Monte Williams CG	Peoria, IL	Manual (IL)	6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)	185 lb (84 kg)	Feb 29, 2016
Recruit ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: ESPN:
Overall recruit ranking: 247Sports: 35 On3: 30
Note: In many cases, Scout, Rivals, 247Sports, On3, 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:

"2017 Illinois Basketball Commits". Scout. "ESPN- Illinois 2017 Basketball Commits". ESPN. "Scout.com Team Recruiting Rankings". Scout. "2017 Team Ranking". Rivals. "Illinois 2017 Basketball Commits". 247Sports. "2017–18 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team". On3. | | | | | |

Source:

The 2018 Big Ten tournament was held at Madison Square Garden in New York City. Due to the Big East's use of that venue for their conference tournament, the Big Ten tournament took place one week earlier than usual, ending the week before Selection Sunday. As a result, the Big Ten regular season began in mid-December.

Datetime, TV	Rank#	Opponent#	Result	Record	High points	High rebounds	High assists	Site (attendance) city, state
Nov 3, 2017*7:00 pm		at Eastern Illinois Disaster Relief Benefit	L 67–80	–	16 – Nichols	9 – Nichols	4 – Nichols	Lantz Arena Charleston, IL
Nov 10, 2017*7:00 pm, BTN+		Southern Global Sports Invitational	W 102–55	1–0	17 – 2 tied	10 – Alstork	4 – 2 tied	State Farm Center (14,637)Champaign, IL
Nov 12, 2017*5:00 pm, ESPNU		UT Martin Global Sports Invitational	W 77–74	2–0	23 – Black	8 – Black	3 – 3 tied	State Farm Center (11,882)Champaign, IL
Nov 17, 2017*7:30 pm, BTN		DePaul Gavitt Tipoff Games	W 82–73	3–0	21 – Smith	9 – Jordan	3 – 4 tied	State Farm Center (11,254)Champaign, IL
Nov 19, 2017*4:00 pm, BTN+		Marshall Global Sports Invitational	W 91–74	4–0	17 – 2 tied	11 – Nichols	5 – Lucas	State Farm Center (10,022)Champaign, IL
Nov 22, 2017*6:00 pm, BTN+		Augustana (IL)	W 96–62	5–0	20 – Finke	10 – Finke	6 – Lucas	State Farm Center (10,404)Champaign, IL
Nov 24, 2017*6:30 pm, BTN+		North Carolina Central Global Sports Invitational	W 86–73	6–0	22 – Finke	8 – Black	6 – Lucas	State Farm Center (11,004)Champaign, IL
Nov 28, 2017*8:00 pm, ESPN2		at Wake Forest ACC–Big Ten Challenge	L 73–80	6–1	20 – Jordan	7 – 2 tied	4 – Lucas	LJVM Coliseum (5,782)Winston-Salem, NC
Dec 1, 20178:00 pm, BTN		at Northwestern Rivalry	L 68–72 OT	6–2(0–1)	15 – Black	7 – 2 tied	3 – Alstork	Allstate Arena (10,017)Rosemont, IL
Dec 3, 20177:00 pm, BTN		Maryland	L 91–92 OT	6–3(0–2)	18 – Black	6 – Nichols	7 – Frazier	State Farm Center (12,735)Champaign, IL
Dec 6, 2017*7:00 pm, BTN		Austin Peay	W 64–57	7–3	17 – Finke	8 – Finke	4 – Lucas	State Farm Center (12,352)Champaign, IL
Dec. 9, 2017*11:00 pm, ESPN2		vs. UNLV UNLV on the Strip	L 82–89	7–4	17 – Smith	10 – Nichols	4 – Smith	MGM Grand Garden Arena (9,668)Paradise, NV
Dec 13, 2017*7:00 pm, BTN		Longwood	W 92–45	8–4	22 – Jordan	8 – Jordan	5 – Lucas	State Farm Center (12,387)Champaign, IL
Dec 16, 2017*7:00 pm, BTN		vs. New Mexico State Lou Henson Classic	L 69–74	8–5	17 – Black	9 – Finke	4 – Alstork	United Center (5,695)Chicago, IL
Dec 23, 2017*7:00 pm, ESPN2		vs. Missouri Braggin' Rights	W 70–64	9–5	22 – Frazier	7 – Black	2 – 2 tied	Scottrade Center (21,289)St. Louis, MO
Dec 30, 2017*3:00 pm, BTN+		Grand Canyon	W 62–58	10–5	20 – Black	11 – Black	3 – Williams	State Farm Center (13,762)Champaign, IL
Jan 3, 20188:00 pm, BTN		at Minnesota	L 67–77	10–6(0–3)	14 – Black	8 – Williams	6 – Frazier	Williams Arena (11,597)Minneapolis, MN
Jan 6, 201811:00 pm, BTN		at Michigan	L 69–79	10–7(0–4)	17 – Nichols	7 – Nichols	6 – Lucas	Crisler Arena (11,888)Ann Arbor, MI
Jan 11, 20187:00 pm, FS1		Iowa Rivalry	L 97–104 OT	10–8(0–5)	27 – Frazier	5 – Nichols	4 – Jordan	State Farm Center (11,326)Champaign, IL
Jan 15, 20188:00 pm, BTN		at Nebraska	L 63–64	10–9(0–6)	19 – Frazier	10 – Finke	5 – Frazier	Pinnacle Bank Arena (12,597)Lincoln, NE
Jan 19, 20188:00 pm, FS1		at Wisconsin	L 50–75	10–10(0–7)	16 – Black	10 – Alstork	5 – Frazier	Kohl Center (17,287)Madison, WI
Jan 22, 20188:00 pm, FS1		No. 6 Michigan State	L 74–87	10–11(0–8)	27 – Nichols	3 – 2 tied	4 – Williams	State Farm Center (13,552)Champaign, IL
Jan 24, 20188:00 pm, BTN		Indiana Rivalry	W 73–71	11–11(1–8)	19 – 2 tied	6 – Black	3 – Frazier	State Farm Center (13,003)Champaign, IL
Jan 30, 20186:00 pm, BTN		Rutgers	W 91–60	12–11(2–8)	19 – Nichols	6 – Nichols	4 – Frazier	State Farm Center (12,612)Champaign, IL
Feb 4, 201811:00 pm, FS1		at No. 17 Ohio State	L 67–75	12–12(2–9)	19 – Alstork	4 – Black	4 – Frazier	Value City Arena (18,743)Columbus, OH
Feb 8, 20188:00 pm, BTN		Wisconsin	L 69–78	12–13(2–10)	32 – Frazier	11 – Black	4 – Lucas	State Farm Center (13,062)Champaign, IL
Feb 11, 20186:00 pm, BTN		Penn State	L 52–74	12–14(2–11)	18 – Black	6 – 3 tied	2 – 4 tied	State Farm Center (12,840)Champaign, IL
Feb 14, 20187:30 pm, BTN		at Indiana Rivalry	L 68–78	12–15(2–12)	20 – Black	7 – Black	5 – Frazier	Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall (17,222)Bloomington, IN
Feb 18, 20182:30 pm, BTN		Nebraska	W 72–66	13–15(3–12)	28 – Black	7 – 3 tied	6 – Lucas	State Farm Center (15,544)Champaign, IL
Feb 20, 20186:00 pm, ESPN		at No. 2 Michigan State	L 61–81	13–16(3–13)	20 – Black	6 – Nichols	5 – Frazier	Breslin Center (14,797)East Lansing, MI
Feb 22, 20186:00 pm, FS1		No. 9 Purdue	L 86–93	13–17(3–14)	28 – Black	6 – Lucas	6 – Frazier	State Farm Center (14,673)Champaign, IL
Feb 25, 20182:00 pm, BTN		at Rutgers	W 75–62	14–17(4–14)	19 – Finke	8 – Williams	4 – Frazier	Louis Brown Athletic Center Piscataway, NJ
Feb 28, 20185:30 pm, BTN	(13)	vs. (12) Iowa First round	L 87–96	14–18	Nichols – 31	4 – Finke	8 – Lucas	Madison Square Garden New York City, NY
*Non-conference game. #Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Central Time.

Big Ten Freshman of the Week, December 26, 2017
Big Ten Freshman of the Week, February 12, 2018
All-Big Ten Honorable Mention (media)
All-Big Ten Freshmen Team
All-Big Ten Honorable Mention (coaches and media)

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