Illinois fans received good news on Tuesday night. Junior guard/forward Ty Rodgers announced on social media that he will be back in Champaign next year after redshirting this past season.

Rodgers’ decision to come back to Illinois came after the Illini lost junior forward Tre White and freshman forward Morez Johnson Jr. to the transfer portal last week. With two key players from the 2024-25 season already gone, a big role opened up that Rodgers can fill.

It was never officially made public why Rodgers decided to redshirt, but it was clear that he would be behind freshman forward Will Riley and White in the depth chart. That was unlikely the role Rodgers anticipated after starting all 38 games during the team’s 2024 Elite Eight run.

Rodgers only played 14 minutes in an exhibition game against Ole Miss at the beginning of the 2024-25 season, and he went scoreless. It was also tough to play Rodgers with Johnson, as both players do not have shooting range outside of the paint. Rodgers was working on building a jump shot, but there were still questions on whether or not it was fully developed.

Now, with Johnson and White gone and Riley likely headed to the NBA, Rodgers has minutes available. He will be longest-tenured Illini on the roster, having been in Champaign since entering college. That continuity will be important, but so will what he can bring to the table skills-wise.

Rodgers is known as a player that can get to the rim, a tough defender and a strong rebounder. He averaged 6.2 points, 5.8 rebounds and 2.0 assists in 17.4 minutes per game during his sophomore campaign. Illinois can certainly use his physicality and grit after that was a weak point during the 2024-25 season.

“I think from the beginning they (Illinois coaches) made it very transparent that this is my team, and I’m gonna be the leader of this team,” Rodgers said at the beginning of last season before announcing his decision to redshirt.

By all accounts, Rodgers was an extremely positive locker room presence all year, despite not playing. The players and coaches commended his professionalism, work in practice and help on the bench during games. Rodgers was also seen actively talking with recruits, such as European center Luigi Suigo. Now that Rodgers will be back on the court, he has the ability to lead even more.

Junior guard Kylan Boswell is the only other Illini who has made it crystal clear that he will be returning. Rodgers and Boswell will have a lot of work to do to build the culture together of a team that will likely, once again, have a lot of new pieces due to players transferring or going pro.

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