No one expected it, least of all Ryan Schmidt.

Illinois men’s basketball coach John Groce announced Friday that because of the Illini’s injuries, the team would add student manager Ryan Schmidt to the roster, a move no one would have expected at the beginning of the year.

Before the season, Groce highlighted the depth of Illinois’ backcourt. After dealing with injuries to three starting guards, the Illini are in an unexpected spot.

Illinois lost Tracy Abrams to a torn ACL before the season, Rayvonte Rice to a broken bone in his left hand in early January and Aaron Cosby to a torn retina following the Indiana game.

The Cosby injury left Illinois’ backcourt thin, especially in practice.

Enter Schmidt, a 6-foot senior guard who played high school basketball at Bloomington (Ill.) Central Catholic and has been a student manager in each of his first three years at Illinois.

Groce has referenced his “next man up” philosophy multiple times this season and over the weekend it was extended to Schmidt, who suited up for the Illini against Minnesota.

Although his No. 14 was never called, Schmidt seemed eager to help the team in any way he could against the Golden Gophers — he still brought out and set up chairs for the Illini during timeouts.

While Illinois has had to endure a multitude of problematic injuries this year, the team has also fulfilled one of Schmidt’s life-long dreams in the process — he was interviewed on ESPN over the weekend.

“I never really expected to suit up for the orange and blue,” Schmidt said to ESPN. “My room’s decked out in Illini gear.”

Nicholas can be reached at [email protected] and on Twitter @IlliniSportsGuy.