After taking down a lowly Rutgers team on Jan. 17 and picking up its second Big Ten win of the season, Illinois was finally able to move back to .500. Despite their tough non-conference schedule and struggles in late December and early January, the Illini are struggling to meet the lofty expectations set in the preseason.
Head coach Shauna Green is in her second year at Illinois after being hired away from Dayton by Josh Whitman, Director of Athletics at Illinois. This start to the 2023-24 season has been a little tough on Green, considering her winning track record, but the coach hasn’t lost sight of her program’s progress since she was hired.
“I’m not going to lie, it’s been extremely challenging,” Green said. “That was part of when I took this job. We were taking over, to be honest, one of the worst programs in the country in terms of wins and for how long. So we knew there were going to be challenges … I really thought those would happen last year.”
Illinois currently sits at 8-9 on the season and 2-4 in Big Ten play, almost the exact definition of middle-of-the-road within the conference. The Illini have almost exclusively lost to teams consistently ranked higher than them and only beat teams consistently ranked lower than them. This record places the Illini at No. 50 in the nation in the NET rankings, suggesting they’re closer to being a fringe tournament team than other power five schools — despite having three, four, five or even nine fewer wins. Illinois has no reason to hang its head quite yet, as its tournament hopes are still alive and well.
The Illini are led in their scoring charge this year by senior guard Genesis Bryant at 14.6 points per game. This comes as a surprise to many, considering the preseason expectations put on fellow senior guard Makira Cook, who follows Bryant at 13.8 points per game. After missing the first three games of the season due to an injury, Cook has been slowly ramping up her play to what was expected of her during the offseason.
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Illinois has proven to be resilient even when Cook isn’t at her best. With big scoring contributions from senior forward Kendall Bostic, junior guard Adalia McKenzie and fifth-year center Camille Hobby, the team has persevered. Cook and Bryant have generally split the playmaking duties, as they both average between three and four assists per game. Bostic has far and away led the team on the glass, gathering 8.9 rebounds and also anchoring the team on defense with her 1.7 steals and blocks per game.
At times, the bench lineup has been a source of concern against high major competition. When mixed in with the starting lineup at points, however, they have been able to shine. Fifth-year guard Jada Peebles gave the Illini a lot of good minutes — especially in the absence of Cook – before her season-ending injury in the Northeastern game.
Now Illinois will look primarily to junior forward Brynn Shoup-Hill and freshman guard Gretchen Dolan, who have both played very well in their roles as of late. Relief appearances from sophomore forward Shay Bollin and sophomore guard Kam’Ren Rhodes have been spotty in terms of success, but both have shown the capability and drive to step into these bigger roles when necessary.
Looking forward to the rest of the season, Green doesn’t think the Illini are out of the game quite yet. According to Green, there is still reason to believe this Illinois team has something special.
“There’s frustrations sometimes,” Green said. “But we have got to continue to teach and hold them accountable and have tough conversations and be honest with them. At the end of the day, I know this group and what they’re capable of doing because we have been through it, so I have to remain positive.”
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